Moroccan prison reports sharp jump in virus cases

• The infections were recorded at a prison in Ouarzazate after 309 inmates were tested for the virus, the country's prison service DG APR said in a statement.
• In early April, more than 5,650 detainees were released in an effort to reduce the risk of the virus spreading in the country's notoriously overcrowded prisons.
• Security personnel have been deployed to enforce the regulations, arresting more than 57,000 people since mid-March.

RABAT: More than 130 new cases of the novel coronavirus were reported in a southern Morocco prison on Thursday where 60 people had already tested positive days earlier, according to prison authorities.

The infections were recorded at a prison in Ouarzazate after 309 inmates were tested for the virus, the country's prison service DG APR said in a statement.

"All of the detainees who tested positive have been isolated in a special ward where they will undergo the treatment protocol approved by the authorities," the statement added.

The DGAPR said Monday that 60 prison staff and six inmates had tested positive for coronavirus, before declaring 133 more cases on Thursday.

Around a dozen cases have also been recorded in prisons in the southern city of Marrakesh and Ksar Kebir in the north.

The prison service said that cases of contamination in Morocco's prisons -- which hold 80,000 inmates -- were under control because of "preventives measures" such as quarantines for workers with the respiratory disease.

In early April, more than 5,650 detainees were released in an effort to reduce the risk of the virus spreading in the country's notoriously overcrowded prisons.

Other Middle East and North African countries have also released prisoners, a measure UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has called for across the world as part of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Morocco had confirmed 3,568 cases of coronavirus as of Thursday evening, including 155 deaths from the respiratory disease and 456 recoveries.

The kingdom has imposed strict social distancing measures and made wearing a mask outside compulsory, with a public health state of emergency in place until at least May 20.

Security personnel have been deployed to enforce the regulations, arresting more than 57,000 people since mid-March.