Roumieh prison houses three times more inmates than its capacity. (Credit: Marwan Assaf)
BEIRUT— The total number of active COVID-19 cases among inmates in Roumieh prison in the Metn is five, head of the physicians’ syndicate Charaf Abou Charaf told L’Orient Today on Tuesday, adding that this figure is four times lower than the number of infections in the prison at this time last year. He also announced that as of Tuesday the syndicate had “secured four additional doctors in Roumieh prison to work four hours a day and raise the level of medical adequacy along with COVID-19 measures.”
Here’s what we know:
• “Prisoners infected by the COVID-19 virus are in good health and are being monitored in quarantine,” Abou Charaf said. “There are no prisoners in hospitals.”
• He stressed that the health and preventive measures taken in the prison have greatly limited the number of infections, saying that “medical and preventive supplies have been secured.”
• Some 50 percent of prisoners countrywide have received Pfizer vaccines against COVID-19 in coordination with the Health Ministry, he wrote in his statement, adding thta this percentage goes up to 80 in small prisons.
• Apart from COVID-19, last week pictures circulated from Roumieh prison showing cases of prisoners suffering from the skin disease scabies. According to Abou Charaf, this was the result of polluted water.
• Commenting on the 100 prisoners who had been infected with scabies, Abou Charaf said “they were successfully treated and only 10 patients remain under treatment,” stressing that clean water is secured by refining it with special equipment provided by the International Red Cross.
• Roumieh housed nearly 4,000 prisoners at the end of 2020, almost three times its capacity. At the end of November, a video circulated on social media showed prisoners in Roumieh self-mutilating to protest poor living conditions.