Modderbee Correctional Facility closed to visitors
No positive cases of the coronavirus have been reported in correctional centres thus far.
Modderbee Correctional Facility is leaving nothing to chance in its fight to prevent Covid-19 from entering its facility.
The centre’s communications officer Olivia Mothapo says the Department of Correctional Services’ approach is focused on prevention, containment/treatment and disaster recovery.
“As the country has been placed on lockdown, correctional facilities will function but certain activities will be suspended and we will not be accepting visitors.
“Correctional officials render an essential service; therefore, they will be at work.
“Greater emphasis has been placed on prevention measures, looking at screening, improving personal and environmental hygiene, provision of personal equipment, sanitisation and decontamination interventions.
“This aspect rests heavily on behavioural change and adaptation by officials, inmates and anyone who visits our correctional facilities and administrative offices,” says Mothapo.
Additionally, the facility has ensured that Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has been given to staff and reception areas, cells, offices, vehicles, and ablution facilities have been sanitised.
In the event that a staff member or inmate contracts the virus, containment and treatment measures will be activated.
The first of these containment and treatment measures will be to prevent other officials, inmates and stakeholders from being exposed to further infections.
These will include isolation of the presumptive cases, quarantine and referrals of the confirmed cases to the designated provincial hospitals for further treatment.
“We have gone a step further and appointed a team comprising security experts as well as professionals to conduct a scenario- planning exercise.
“They will be jointly working with other security cluster partners to explore and consider different crisis and emergency possibilities, in order to craft appropriate and operationally responsive interventions should the epidemic reach unimagined proportions.
“We recognise the importance of keeping and maintaining correctional facilities Covid-19 free and will therefore invest a larger part of its disaster management planning in intensifying preventative measures,” says Mothapo.
No positive cases of the coronavirus have been reported in correctional centres thus far.
Officials who travelled abroad have been screened and further instructed to go for testing and they are not allowed to report for duty until medical results are received.
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