Health of prison staff In any detention facility where there are people held, staff and personnel are required to maintain security and provide for the people they supervise. When there is a lockdown, or quarantine, in a wing or facility, prison staff may also be required to stay. Prison staff need paid sick leave, to avoid situations where due to financial need they come to work in the detention facility while they are unwell. Furthermore, information to relatives of members of staff working in places of detention affected by COVID-19 is essential. Prison management must support prison staff in times of emergency Prison management should be proactive in planning the work of members of staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, share the emergency preparedness plan, and provide support for relatives of members of staff. Specific training should be provided to all staff and efforts to increase healthcare and hygiene provision should be prioritised Emergency measures to reduce prison populations Do no harm Criminal justice systems need to take measures to adapt to the fast-evolving situation with COVID-19 by reducing the number of people in detention facilities. This can include reducing unnecessary pre-trial detention and sentencing individuals particularly for minor and non-violent offences to prison. In Seattle (WA, US), the district attorney said his office was filing only serious violent cases.17 In Boston (MA, US), prosecutors will ask for 60-day continuances in criminal cases in which defendants are not in custody.18 Criminal justice systems must adapt the way they operate to prevent doing harm. The risk otherwise is that vulnerable individuals confronted with some time in detention could have long-lasting and potentially irreversible consequences of being exposed to COVID-19. Emergency releases Prison overcrowding presents a high risk for any situation of outbreaks of communicable diseases. To date, prisons in over 124 countries exceed their maximum occupancy rate. In the ordinary life of a prison, overcrowding leads inter alia to violence, higher rates of death in custody, and lack of proper healthcare provision. ‘Our Courts and Jails Are Putting Lives at Risk’, 13 March 2020, available at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/opinion/coronav irus-courts-jails.html. 18 17 ‘District Attorney Rollins Proposes Immediate Steps Amid Rising Health Concerns’, 12 March 2020, available at https://www.suffolkdistrictattorney.com/pressreleases/items/2020/3/12/district-attorney-rollinsproposes-immediate-steps-amid-rising-health-concerns. Page 10 of 13 www.penalreform.org