He said the Clinic was in dire need of the thermal infrared thermometers as it would help to detect, isolate and prevent possible cases of COVID-19.

DSP Latif made the call when the BESSTEL Foundation and Ghana-UK Mental Health Alliance donated some equipment, including gun thermometres, to the Prison Clinic.

He said due to confinement, inmates could not practise social distancing adding that the overcrowding had further heightened the risk level at the facility.

He said the lack of the gadget was hampering efforts by the Clinic to detect symptoms of the virus and ensure the safety of officers and inmates.

DSP Latif said the prison population now is more than the capacity of the facility.

  "This prison was built to house somewhere around 800 inmates but as it stands today we have about 3,500 inmates in custody, which makes this issue of social distancing very difficult to achieve behind the prison walls."

DSP Latif, however, said Management was doing all it could to protect the inmates from the infection.

"One of the ways we are doing that is to screen whoever that comes into contact with the prison. And it is in this direction that we are in desperate need of the thermal guns."
 
As the virus was transmitted by close contact with infected persons, facilities like the Prison remained a high-risk location for the infection, he said.