Prisons present an easy opportunity for the coronavirus to spread because it involves a large group of people packed closely together like large sardines.
So, if you manage to survive your stint behind bars at this time without contracting Covid-19, you’re pretty lucky.
But what if you get it immediately after being released?
Everything About the New COVID-19 Prison Inmate, Who Was Tested 3 Times Before He Was Confirmed
On Monday (3 Aug), only one community case of Covid-19 was reported, showing that safe distancing protocols and other precautionary measures are working.
But then we read that it was a prison inmate and feared the worst: would it spread through the prison like wildfire?
The 26-year-old inmate is a Sri Lanka national who arrived in Singapore in January, before the country shut its borders and crushed the dreams of travel lovers hoping to upload new photos to their Instagram.
Six months after his arrival in January, the short-term pass holder was arrested by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on 30 June for overstaying in Singapore.
According to Mothership, the man was remanded at Changi Prison Complex a day later and sentenced to jail on 6 July.
During his stint in prison, the 26-year-old underwent two swab tests on 2 July and 22 July and tested negative for both.
As part of new Covid-19 regulations, the man was also segregated for two weeks, along with other new admissions to the prison.
After serving his sentence, the man was released into ICA’s custody on 27 July so arrangements could be made for his repatriation back to Sri Lanka.
The only problem, as your empty luggage indicates, is that there are very few flights operating these days, and no flights to Sri Lanka were available at the time.
So, after a medical review at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) in relation to a previous hospitalisation for dengue, the man was returned to the custody of the police.
But the bad news kept on coming for the Sri Lankan, as he later tested positive for Covid-19 on 2 Aug, 10 days after the second negative swab test.
Given that the incubation period for the coronavirus is two weeks, the man could have contracted the disease before or after being released.
This is what makes contract tracing so difficult sometimes.
SPS and ICA Officers Quarantined
One SPS officer, five ICA officers, and five auxiliary police officers who were in close contact with the man have been quarantined as a result.
The man is doing well at the moment, and is being segregated from other inmates.
Two other inmates who were admitted on the same day as the man and were segregated in the same cell tested negative for the coronavirus, though they’ll have to take another swab test before joining other inmates.
Unlinked to Previous Prison Infections
What’s interesting is that the authorities believe this new Covid-19 case is unlinked to the five previously reported cases in prisons, including four inmates and a staff nurse from the Singapore Prison Service’ (SPS) medical service provider.
So, if he didn’t get it from previous cases, and all new admissions who joined the general inmate population were Covid-19 free, where the heck did he contract it from?
The coronavirus certainly is a sneaky bastard.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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