Lucknow, May 15 (IANS): After 12 inmates of the Agra jail tested positive for coronavirus, the Yogi Adityanath government has started taking random samples of inmates lodged in all the 71 jails in the state for testing.

Director General of Prisons, Anand Kumar, said random samples will be taken in all the 71 jails and the reports of the same will be compiled by the DIG jail, Lucknow who will also maintain a record of the same.

On Thursday alone, samples of 524 inmates and 29 jail staff were collected by the health teams in their respective districts. These include the temporary jails also.

Anand Kumar said that for the purpose of testing, the chief medical officers have deputed health teams in their respective districts. "The same facility has also been arranged for temporary jails in the state," he said.

Random sampling was conducted in Rampur, Badaun, Muzaffarnagar, Bahraich, Barabanki and Balrampur, along with temporary jails in Sultanpur and Meerut.