Detainees test positive: Police

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
MADANG police commander Supt Mazuc Rubiang has confirmed that some of the detainees at Jomba Police Station cell blocks have tested positive for the coronavirus (Covid-19).
He said the cell blocks had been closed since last Friday and the detainees transferred to the province’s main jail, Beon, after being quarantine.
Supt Rubiang said yesterday that the Madang National Court had issued orders for the cell block to be closed down on humanitarian grounds.
According to media reports, Madang health authority deputy director for public health Karoi Kamac, had sent a report to Supt Rubiang stating that the cell block was over-crowded, filthy and had inconsistent water supply and these reasons it was unsuitable for keeping a large number of inmates at any one time.
The memo stated that the condition of the cell block was also contributing to the spread of sickness among the inmates.
Kamac recommended for those positive cases to be removed and quarantined in their homes; and, those testing negative be moved to Beon jail as the cell block is being cleaned and disinfected before it can be used.