From among 600 suspected prisoners of Pul-e-Charkhi prison and Kabul detention center, 50 prisoners and prison workers have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a team of doctors responsible for the medical treatment of prisoners at the Pul-e-Charkhi jail said on Saturday.

Those prisoners and prison workers who were tested are currently being monitored at the Pul-e-Charkhi 250-bed quarantine center.

According to the doctors, they will increase the capacity of the quarantine center to 1,000 beds if positive cases of COVID-19 increase among the inmates.

“Doctors visit us every day, they also give us medicine on a daily basis and our food is also delivered regularly,” said Ahmad Yousuf, a prisoner.

“The prisoners have been quarantined in the 7th block of Pul-e-Charkhi jail, their medicines are provided based on the directive of the Ministry of Health,” said Ghulam Sediq Hashemi, the head of the medical team at Pul-e-Charkhi prison.

“From those who tested positive, the health condition of 15 of them is improving well, the health condition of the rest is stable, and so far no deaths have been registered,” said Farhad Bayani, a spokesman for the prisons directorate of prisons.