A Sierra Leonean on remand at a male correctional centre in the capital Freetown has tested positive for COVID-19, leading to the quarantine of many inmates, a statement from the Chief Justice said.
This development came as health officials confirmed six new COVID-19 cases to take the West African country’s total tally to 99.
The man fell ill on April 20 while on remand and was admitted at the male correctional centre hospital, where he confessed to escaping from a quarantine centre at Cow Yard, a suburb of Freetown.
“He was referred to 34 Hospital and later to Connaught Hospital on April 24, where he tested positive for COVID-19 later on April 26,’’ the statement added.
Authorities have ordered fumigation at the male correctional centre and inmates of the suspect, who had come into contact with the man, have also been quarantined.
The Chief Justice has also ordered the suspension of court sittings at all the magistrate courts throughout Sierra Leone for one month.
The suspension takes effect from Tuesday to prevent the “movement of possibly infected persons from police stations through the courts and to prisons’’.
