KATHMANDU: As many as 63 inmates at the Sundhara-based Central Jail have been diagnosed coronavirus positive so far.

Among them, four have succumbed to the pandemic, according to jailor Laxmi Bastola.

Inmates at the prison are at risk of the infection due to inadequate coronavirus testing and contact tracing.

The treatment of the infected is also being hampered as the prison hospital established for treating the inmates within the prison premises is not well organized.

Currently, 38 infected prisoners are undergoing treatment at the Ayurveda Training Center in Kirtipur.

Jailer Bastola said that it would be difficult to get a hospital for admission if someone is infected. He noted that 19 infected people are in jail as other hospitals refused to admit them.

The prison has a capacity of 1,450 inmates and holds 3,266 inmates, so it is impossible to maintain social distance, he added.

So far, samples of 216 have been tested for the coronavirus.