THE POSSIBILITIES OF KEEPING A PHYSICAL DISTANCE AND PROVIDING INFORMATION TO PEOPLE DEPRIVED OF THEIR LIBERT Y a household. Everyday a department receives a number of staff who are otherwise out in the community when not working. Furthermore, the pandemic had not resulted in a general halt The National Board of to new admissions. Institutional Care needs As such, residents at the National Board to take measures so that residents and staff are able of Institutional Care’s institutions, therefoto follow the Public Health re, came in contact Agency of Sweden’s recom- with significantly more people in their mendations “home environment”, and they were exposed to a higher risk of infection than a person would normally be in their home. The Parliamentary Ombudsman stated that the National Board of Institutional Care should immediately review what measures it must take in order for residents and staff to be able to follow the Public Health Agency of Sweden’s general advice and recommendations. The Swedish Migration Agency During the inspections of the detention centres in Flen and Märsta, information emerged from both detainees and staff that maintaining a physical distance from one another had been difficult to achieve. As a general rule, detainees share a living area with one or more other detainees. It emerged that six detainees were placed in the same living area at the detention centre in Märsta. If a detainee was suspected of being infected with Covid-19, they were placed in their own living area at specially set up quarantine departments. The management of the Swedish Migration Agency stated that the possibility for detainees to keep a physical distance had increased be- 5 cause the number of places in the detention centre had been temporarily reduced. Parliamentary Ombudsman Per Lennerbrant stated that it should not be excluded that detainees share living areas even during an ongoing pandemic. A prerequisite for this is the Swedish Migration Agency taking the necessary measures required for detainees to be able to maintain a physical distance from one another. The Parliamentary Ombudsman called on the Swedish Migration Agency to take note of this information and, for example, seek support from infection control experts in the various regions for assessments of what is an acceptable number of detainees in, for example, a shared living area or how physical distance can be maintained in other ways. The National Board of Forensic Medicine During the inspections of the National Board of Forensic Medicine’s examination divisions, it emerged that there had been difficulties for patients to maintain a physical distance from one another, for example when they queued for meals. In the spring of 2020, the National Board of Forensic Medicine inThe National Board of troduced a temporary Forensic Medicine took routine whereby staff measures which meant urged patients at both examination divisions patients were able follow to eat their meals in the Public Health Agency their rooms. Furtherof Sweden’s recommenmore, the National Bodations ard of Forensic Medicine temporarily made it possible for patients to watch TV in their rooms even during the day. At the division where there were problems with maintaining distances to one another whilst being served food, the agency – 33 –