Covid-19 : Grieving East London mother just wants dignified funeral for daughter

Two inmates at the East London prison in West Bank have died of Covid-19, and now a mother is distraught at not being able to give her daughter a dignified funeral.  

The mother, who asked not to be named to protect the identity of her dead child, said her daughter  was an inmate at the East London prison when she became sick.

She said her daughter, who was in her 30s, was one of the inmates  tested at the prison.

“She initially tested negative but she had underlying illnesses. She was very sick and was rushed to hospital.”

On arrival at the hospital, the inmate died within “a few hours”.

It was later that discovered that her daughter did in fact have Covid-19.

“We had to bury her immediately and there were very few people who attended the funeral. Her body was covered and we couldn't see her. I feel my daughter got the illness from the prison. She never made any contact with any person outside the prison to contract this. This she got from prison.”

Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo  said the woman died on April 23 and was “a regular at the hospital due to her multiple chronic medical conditions”.

“At the time of her admission on April 22, her status was understood to be negative of Covid-19 as she had been tested on April 8.”

Even though the inmate's initial results were negative, Nxumalo said Frere Hospital decided to retest her upon admission. “Unfortunately she perished on April 23 due to natural causes, as defined by the death certificate.

“The department of correctional services was informed by the hospital that the late inmate did test positive for Covid-19. The lab results came back on April 25, two days after her death. We informed the family,” said Nxumalo.

Nxumalo said on the Wednesday the two deaths at the prison were more than a week old and five days apart.

In a report released by the department late on Tuesday evening, Nxumalo said an additional six inmates at the prison had tested positive for Covid-19.

According to the figures, the Eastern Cape had 35 confirmed cases involving officials and 65 involving inmates, with 58 recoveries and 42 still active.

Pertaining to the six new cases, Nxumalo said healthcare practitioners were already on site “providing an array of health services”.

Early last month, after the first East London prison official tested positive for Covid-19, prison officials faced public scrutiny as a result of the outbreak in the prison,  DispatchLIVE reported.

The department has strongly condemned the “scowling” at and stigmatisation of correctional services officials due to the pandemic.

Nxumalo said: ''The situation is getting unpalatable, especially in the Eastern Cape.”

He said officials were subjected to “inhumane treatment” when visiting shops and other public places.

''This is abhorrent conduct of the worst form and it has no space in the collective efforts of preventing the spread of the coronavirus. We have noted with dismay the behaviour of some shop owners who denied our officials access to their outlets, and even worse, members of the community are pointing fingers at the uniform and stigmatising our officials,'' said Nxumalo.

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