→ Prison/detention management should consider implementing measures to limit the mobility of
people within the prison/detention system and/or to limit access of non-essential staff and visitors to
prisons and other places of detention, depending on the level of risk in the specific country/area. The
psychological impact of these measures needs to be considered and mitigated as much as possible,
and basic emotional and practical support for affected people in prison should be available.17
→ Prison/detention management should increase the level of information on COVID-19 proactively
shared with people in detention. Restrictions, including a limitation of visitors, need to be carefully
explained in advance and alternative measures to provide contact with family/friends, e.g. phone or
Skype calls, should be introduced.
4. Referral system and clinical management
→ In the context of the current COVID-19 outbreak, the containment strategy includes the rapid
identification of laboratory-confirmed cases, and their isolation and management either on site or in
a medical facility. For contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases, WHO recommends that such persons be
quarantined for 14 days from the last time they were exposed to a COVID-19 patient.18
→ Health-care teams, using recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) including eye protection
(face shield or goggles), gloves, mask and gown, should ensure that appropriate biological samples
are taken, on advice from their public health agency, from any suspected cases and sent for analysis
to local microbiology services as per local protocols, in a timely manner and in compliance with clinical
and information governance procedures. PPE stocks should be maintained and kept secure to ensure
their availability under the indicated circumstances.
→ Prison authorities should be informed and made aware of the hospitals to which they can transfer
those requiring admission (respiratory support and/or intensive care units). Appropriate actions need
to be taken for any confirmed cases, including transfer to specialist facilities for respiratory isolation
and treatment, as required; appropriate escorts should be used and advice on safe transfers followed.
However, consideration should be given to protocols that can manage the patient on site with clear
criteria for transfer to hospital, as unnecessary transport creates risk for both transport staff and the
receiving hospital.
→ Environmental and engineering controls intended to reduce the spread of pathogens and
contamination of surfaces and inanimate objects should be in place; this should include provision
of adequate space between people,19 adequate air exchange, and routine disinfection of the
environment (preferably at least once daily).
→ Consideration should be given to measures such as distributing food in rooms/cells instead of
a common canteen; or splitting out-of-cell time, which could be divided by wing/unit to avoid
concentration of prisoners/staff even in open spaces. With these caveats, access of prisoners to the
open air should be maintained and not fall below a minimum of one hour per day.
5. Prison/detention management and health-care staff should work alongside local public health agencies
to implement the IPC recommendations described in this document; at all times, they must balance
public health risk against any operational pressures on prisons and other places of detention and the
wider secure and detained estate.
17
Psychological first aid: guide for field workers. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2011 (https://www.who.int/mental_health/publications/guide_field_workers/en).
Considerations for quarantine of individuals in the context of coronavirus disease (COVID-19): interim guidance (29 February 2020). Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020
(https://www.who.int/publications-detail/considerations-for-quarantine-of-individuals-in-the-context-of-containment-for-coronavirus-disease-(covid-19)).
19
A minimum space of 1 metre is recommended.
18
9
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