Over 50 female inmates have caught the coronavirus infection in the Sepidar Prison of Ahvaz, in southwestern Iran.
Reports say these women have been taken to Sepidar’s quarantine ward after showing symptoms of infection such as chills and fever. Some of the remaining inmates also have symptoms of having caught cold.
The prison’s doctor is also ill and there is no one to attend to and treat these 50 female inmates suffering from COVID-19. The inmates do not have access to medications and even the medicines procured by their families are not accepted by prison authorities who do not see themselves accountable to the families, to answer their questions about their relatives or to pass on the medications for them.
The ward where the infected inmates are being held is separated from other wards and other prisoners only by several iron bars.
They use the same area where other prisoners walk for fresh air, and only their timing is different.
The situation has been very critical in Sepidar Prison of Ahvaz since the outbreak of the coronavirus. A riot erupted in this prison in March which was viciously suppressed and a number of prisoners were killed by security guards.
The situation is also very deplorable in Qarchak Prison for women in Varamin. At least, another 20 infected female inmates have been transferred to the quarantine ward and held in intolerable conditions.
An inmate recently released from Qarchak Prison wrote that at least 100 female inmates in Qarchak Prison have been infected and suffer from COVID-19. These women are locked down in a ward called the “club.”
