Police detention centres forwarded an amended version of the decree of March 2020 in this respect. Therein, the Ministry declared all “glass visits” to detainees as permissible. However, the Ministry required all visitors to wear a mask while being in the detention centres. Quarantine for all new arrivals The Federal Ministry of the Interior introduced arrivals quarantine in the second decree: according to this, all of the newly admitted persons within one to three days had to be housed in very small groups (two persons in the best case) during the first fourteen days of detention. This did not apply to persons transferred directly from correctional institutions who had been in detention for more than fourteen days. The persons in arrivals quarantine had to be allowed by cell to go out into the yard every day, shower and have access to medical care during the time they were separated from the other detainees. However, the Ministry made the transfer of detainees awaiting forced return to the open section conditional on passing the arrivals quarantine and on displaying no symptoms of infection. At the end of June 2020, the Federal Ministry of the Interior communicated to all Police Departments that the separation of new arrivals in police detention centres – with the exception of concrete suspected cases of infection – does not justify preventive isolation of those affected. The Ministry explained this specification to the NPM with the occasional lack of free places in two police detention centres in which only one person respectively is admitted on many days. Revocation of eased restrictions Due to the rise in COVID-19 infections in Austria in autumn 2020, the Ministry announced new restrictions in detention per decree at the end of November 2020. The detainees were only allowed “glass visits” again in the legally regulated cases and detainees awaiting forced return were only allowed visits from their closest relatives and important reference persons. The detainees had to be allowed to shower and go outdoors only by cell or in small groups. Open detention pending forced return maintained However, the Federal Ministry of the Interior did not generally stop open detention pending forced return. Instead, the Ministry made the transfer of detainees awaiting forced return to the open section conditional on completing the now ten days of arrivals quarantine. The new decree also stipulated opening the cells in detention pending forced return at different times in order to avoid larger gatherings of detainees. Concepts to compensate for restrictions Furthermore, the Ministry instructed all Police Departments to present concepts for the daily structure and occupational activities in the detention centres in a timely manner. In accordance with the decree, the concepts should in any case include the provision of sports equipment and, insofar as the architecture permits simple implementation, fitting the communal cells with TV sets. Regulations for the COVID-19 testing of persons in arrivals quarantine were not included in the decree. The NPM recommended the use of tests in order 135