The prison authorities have decided yesterday (31) to close the Vavuniya prison until the 15th of August with immediate effect. (Sri Lanka Latest News)
The prison was closed on the advice of the health authorities when six inmates of the prison contracted a disease similar to smallpox and several other suspected patients were found in the prison.
All the inmates in the prison have been given the necessary treatment and medicines, and all the inmates have also been vaccinated.
The health department says that if smallpox is contracted in a background where smallpox has been eradicated from Sri Lanka, it can be contracted from a foreign person and they will conduct extensive investigations into what this disease is.
The health authorities of Vavuniya visited the prison and observed the condition and the patients and gave the necessary instructions to the prison officials, and the officials said that the situation could be serious due to the presence of a large number of inmates in the prison.
A prison officer said that since about three years ago, several requests were made to reduce the number of inmates or to improve the facilities of the prison due to insufficient space in the Vavuniya prison, but there was no response from the authorities.
The prisoners in Vavuniya Bandhanagar have been transferred to other safe places due to the epidemic.
