Canada Places In Prison On Lockdown Due To COVID-19 Outbreak - Statement

A prison in Canada's province of Quebec has been placed on lockdown because of an outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) at the facility, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) said in a statement on Friday

TORONTO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th April, 2020) A prison in Canada's province of Quebec has been placed on lockdown because of an outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) at the facility, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) said in a statement on Friday.

"On April 15, 2020, a lockdown was put in place in the multi-level security unit at the Federal Training Centre, as a precautionary measure after some inmates showed symptoms consistent with COVID-19," the statement said.

According to CSC data, 25 inmates in the medium-security unit of the prison have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, but no positive cases have been recorded in the minimum-security facility.

On Thursday, the Canadian authorities recorded the first COVID-19-related death in the country's correctional system, after an inmate in the province of British Columbia succumbed to complications of novel coronavirus.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said his department and the CSC are considering a range of options to keep staff and inmates in prisons safe, echoing earlier CSC statements made to Sputnik about a possible release of low-risk offenders amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Thursday, Canada has registered a total of 30,092 COVID-19 cases and 1,193deaths related to the disease, according to the latest figures from the country's Public Health Agency.