-45 conditions. Indeed, to respect the principle of “do no harm” many NPMs decided to limit or altogether suspend prison visits or, in a few cases, have been prohibited from entering by penitentiary authorities. This has meant looking for alternative ways to monitor the situation in penitentiary institutes and other places of deprivation of liberty. For example, some NPMs have used the tool of confidential phone calls with staff and detainees to assess the situation in prison. Other NPMs have continued to carry out monitoring visits while adopting preventive measures against the spread of the virus, such as tests for Covid-19 for all monitors entering the prisons, and the use of personal protective equipment up until full hazmat suits. Another solution was to hold interviews with detainees in the meeting areas for lawyers situated in prisons; this solution, even if it did not allow the monitoring of prison conditions, allowed the NPM to receive information and complaints from detainees and at the same time safeguarded their health. The second problematic aspect that was pointed out was that the use of solitary confinement for public health purposes has increased and that in some cases detainees did not even have the possibility to shower, exercise in open air, access their lawyer, or benefit from all the necessary procedural safeguards. Also for NPMs, these are the most difficult people to reach at this time. In some instances, monitoring bodies have visited these inmates in hazmat suits, even if they render very difficult the possibility of having a confidential conversation with detainees. In the past few months, several human rights bodies135 have issued some statements or handbooks related to people deprived of liberty. For example, the CPT in its Statement of principles of 20 March136 reminded 135. The WHO published an interim guidance on how to deal with the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in prisons and other places of detention: https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-covid-19/news/news/2020/3/preventing-covid-19-outbreak-in-prisons-a-challenging-but-essential-task-for-authorities OHCHR, WHO, UNAIDS and UNODC issued a joint statement to urgently draw the attention of political leaders to the heightened vulnerability of prisoners and other people deprived of liberty during the COVID-19 pandemic, and urge them to take all appropriate public health measures in respect of this vulnerable population: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Events/COVID-19/20200513_PS_COVID_ and_Prisons_EN.pdf The SPT issued a statement that included measures to be taken by authorities concerning all places of deprivation of liberty to face Covid-19 and measures to be taken by NPMs during their monitoring mandate:https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/OPCAT/AdviceStatePartiesCoronavirusPandemic2020.pdf 136. European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Statement of principles relating to the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Monitoring Solitary Confinement in Prison