Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 4) — The Department of Health will give 10,000 kits to the Department of Justice for inmates to be tested for COVID-19, President Rodrigo Duterte said in his sixth report on the special powers granted to him by Congress to address the coronavirus crisis.
Duterte said 3,500 of the test kits will go to the Correctional Institute of Women in Mandaluyong City where 48 inmates contracted the virus.
The Health department reported Monday that 195 inmates tested positive for coronavirus, in addition to the 38 infected Bureau of Jail Management and Penology employees.
The fear of rising infections in prison facilities is fast becoming a reality, with numerous jails in the country reporting virus cases and deaths among inmates and staff.
The government is moving to decongest jails, with Duterte saying in his report that the Public Attorney’s Office has filed motions to free 1,359 prisoners.
In April, 22 prisoners with underlying medical conditions filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking temporary freedom amid the outbreak. The motion is pending.
The Office of the Solicitor General opposed the petition, saying that congestion in jail facilities is not a ground to release inmates even amid the COVID-19 crisis.
The Supreme Court and the Justice department, meanwhile, have eased rules to facilitate the release of some inmates.
