12. PREVENTION MEASURES There is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19. All staff and people in prisons and other places of detention should have comprehensive awareness of COVID-19 prevention strategies, including adherence to hand hygiene measures, respiratory etiquette (covering coughs and sneezes), physical distancing (maintaining a distance of at least 1 metre from others), being alert to signs and symptoms of COVID-19, staying away from ill people, and (in the case of staff) staying home when ill. Staff should also comply with any screening measures put in place by local authorities. In alignment with local health authorities, a workplace protocol should be developed to determine how to manage any personnel who meet the definition of a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case or their contacts. 12.1 Personal protection measures It is recommended that the following general precautions for infectious respiratory diseases are taken to help prevent people (staff, visitors, vendors, detainees, etc. in prisons) from catching and spreading COVID-19: • hands should be washed often with soap and water and dried with single-use towels; alcohol hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol is also an option if available (for further guidance on hand hygiene, see section 13.1 below); • physical distancing should be observed; • a disposable tissue should be used to cover mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing, then thrown in a bin with a lid; • touching of eyes, nose or mouth should be avoided if hands are not clean. If possible, wall-mounted liquid soap dispensers, paper towels and foot-operated pedal bins should be made available and accessible in key areas such as toilets, showers, gyms, canteens and other high-traffic communal areas to facilitate regular hand hygiene. Security staff should assess whether such fixtures pose a security and safety risk to people in prisons and places of detention prior to their installation. 12.2 Use of masks It is important to create a general understanding of what measures should be taken by, and on behalf of, each person in prison when infection by COVID-19 is suspected. It is very important to train people in prison as soon as possible to understand general hygiene and ways of transmission and to make it clear that, if masks are to be used, this measure must be combined with hand hygiene and other IPC measures to prevent human-to-human transmission of COVID-19. Patient use of a medical mask is one of the prevention measures that can be taken to limit spread of certain respiratory diseases, including COVID-19, in affected areas. However, use of a mask alone is insufficient to provide an adequate level of protection and other equally relevant measures should also be adopted. WHO has developed guidance for home-care and health-care settings on IPC strategies for use when infection with COVID-19 is suspected.36 WHO has also issued guidance on the use of masks in the community, during home care and in health-care settings in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.31 19