Justice Minister: Prisoners Produce Millions of Pieces of Personal Protective Equipment

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Convicts in prisons throughout the country produce personal protective equipment for Covid-19, including masks, coveralls, surgical aprons and goggles, Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül said yesterday (May 12).

Since March 16, as many as 900,000 coveralls, seven million face masks, 2 million packs of gauze bandage, 633,000 medical goggles, 80 tonnes of eau de cologne, and 2,500 tons of cleaning supplies and sanitizers have been produced by prisoners, he told a news conference in Ankara, the capital.

On the other hand, the minister did not give an update on the number of prisoners who contracted the new coronavirus. On April 28, he had said 120 prisoners in four prisons were diagnosed with Covid-19.

Lawyers and rights groups say that the disease has been spreading in prisons amid poor access to healthcare and insufficient hygiene measures. Prisoners with a serious illness continue to remain behind bars despite a recent prison release law, they also point out.

"Tens of thousands of our officers are working in quarantine to prevent the virus from infecting convicts and arrestees," Gül said, adding that chief public prosecutor's offices are monitoring positive cases and informing health directorates, the Health Ministry and the families of prisoners.

Prisons are disinfected and provided with necessary supplies, according to the minister.

Gül also said that notaries and forensic medicine institutions resumed working and courts were expected to reopen after the Sugar Feast in late May. After Ramadan and the feast, measures would be gradually lifted, he added. (AS/VK)