6 2. CPT PRINCIPLE During the COVID-19 pandemic, the competent public authorities and all facilities where persons are deprived of their liberty in the territory of the Council of Europe must fully apply WHO guidelines on fighting the pandemic, as well as national health and clinical guidelines consistent with international standards. NPM FINDINGS All correctional institutions have been instructed to cooperate with the epidemiological services of the competent health care institute within the Ministry of Health, in order to provide equitable health care to persons deprived of liberty and staff with suspected infections. The text of the WHO publication "Preparedness, prevention and control of COVID-19 in prisons and other places of detention" has been translated and distributed to all correctional institutions. In the event of persons developing symptoms of acute respiratory infection, the plan is to contact an epidemiologist in the competent health care institution, who shall be in charge of further treatment, as well as to isolate those who have been in direct contact with the symptomatic person. Depending on the test results, a person testing positive for the presence of the virus with a milder clinical presentation would be referred to inpatient treatment in the competent health care institution, and a person testing negative would be kept in 14-day isolation. An infected person with a more severe clinical presentation would be referred to the territorially competent clinical centres, which shall certainly be decided by the epidemiologist. 3. CPT PRINCIPLE During the COVID-19 pandemic, the competent public authorities and all facilities where persons are deprived of their liberty in the territory of the Council of Europe must reinforce staff availability, and staff should receive all professional support, health and safety protection, as well as training necessary in order to be able to continue to fulfil their tasks. NPM FINDING The Administration for the Enforcement of Penal Sanctions has undertaken activities to organize the work of correctional institution staff, ensure safe functioning of the institutions and the implementation of actions to safeguard the staff from a potential viral infection. Correctional institutions operate in shifts, while taking care that spouses work different shifts. In the District Prison Belgrade, which has a large number of detainees, due to the reduced number of hearings, it has been made possible for escort officers to be reassigned to other duties within the Security Service. In the Penal-Correctional Institution Belgrade, the Security Service and the Health Care Service have about 3-4 thousand overtime hours per month. The presence of the virus was confirmed in one staff member from the Security Service, wherefore all other staff members who were in direct contact with him were directed to take annual leave. In the Penal-Correctional Institution Belgrade – Padinska Skela, due to the smaller number of convicts in this institution, it is possible for some staff members to use their annual leave in this period. In Padinska Skela Reception Centre for Aliens removals have been suspended and the number of aliens reduced, thus there is no problem with the number of available staff or the number of overtime hours.