Correctional institutions announcements and internal instructions were subjected to an ongoing monitoring process. In concrete terms, the content of the decrees was compared to international standards and a questionnaire was formulated which was initially used virtually and then in person with the decision-makers on the on-site visits after the restrictions were eased. In so doing, the feasibility and practicability of the Federal Ministry of Justice directives were evaluated. In addition to the management and representatives of the special services, the NPM addressed employees from different professions as well as employee representatives of the law enforcement and other services to document the sensitivities but also the concerns of the staff. To the extent that monitoring visits could be conducted on-site, the commissions got an impression of the living conditions in the departments and interviewed detainees. NPM consultation days were used for this purpose. General overview in COVID-19 report The excerpts depicted in this report are restricted to the activity of the NPM. Reference is made to the COVID-19 Report for a complete overview of the impact of the pandemic in the area of facilities of the penitentiary system and facilities for the detention of mentally ill offenders. 2.5.2.1 Isolation and quarantine Measures that restrict freedom The NPM paid particular attention to the arrival cells that are also called admission or observation cells or isolation rooms in which inmates had to spend up to three weeks in quarantine after admission. Several points of criticism Stricter hygiene standards apply to these cells. They are deep cleaned and completely disinfected before each new occupant is admitted. In some cases, these rooms are located in the area of the infirmary. In other cases, departments had to be converted, which the NPM views quite critically. For example, the department for open detention in Ried correctional institution, the day release prisoner department in the Floridsdorf satellite facility of Mittersteig correctional institution and the adolescent department in Klagenfurt correctional institution were dissolved. The cells there were and are until further notice reserved for persons whose coronavirus infection status has to be clarified. An increase in occupancy or numbers of suspected cases can mean that two inmates have to share such a cell. If they are not allocated to the cell at the same time, the quarantine is inevitably extended for one of them until the critical period has elapsed for both. The commission highlighted this problem on one of the monitoring visits to Vienna-Josefstadt correctional institution. In Leoben correctional institution, the NPM managed to enable the inmates in the arrival cells to not only exercise their right to go outside every day without 103