Annual review During the first wave of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, the Commission nevertheless decided to temporarily refrain from visiting facilities where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty. Among other things, this decision was taken to avoid placing an even greater burden on these facilities. The Commission did, however, write to the FOPH Director and the Director of the Conference of Cantonal Justice and Police Directors (CCJPD) in March, emphasising the need for measures to reduce overcrowding in prisons and to ensure hygiene and cleanliness in the facilities. The Commission also pointed out that early releases of persons held in administrative detention under the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act (FNIA) should be examined. The Commission emphasised that proportionate restrictive measures are permissible if there is a corresponding legal basis and if the measures are limited in time. In order to effectively continue its mandate during COVID-19, the Commission was in regular contact with representatives of the CCJPD and the FOPH to gain an overview of the situation in detention facilities. The Commission deliberately refrained from bilateral discussions and correspondence with the individual facilities in order to avoid duplicating the efforts of the CCJPD. To keep risks to a minimum, the Commission drafted its own preventive hygiene and protection guidance and gave advanced notice to cantonal officers of health and directors of the institutions to be visited. Thus, the Commission carried out numerous visits to detention facilities and federal asylum centres in the second half of the year. It did not encounter any resistance, whether it be from the directors of the institutions in question or from cantonal officers of health. The Commission is aware of this privilege, as many other national preventive mechanisms (NPMs) have been denied access to detention facilities in their respective countries. Only in one case did the Commission decide to postpone a visit to a federal asylum centre due to the epidemiological situation in the canton ­concerned. By the end of 2020, detention facilities in Switzerland managed to avoid any surge of COVID-19 cases among inmates. One widely adopted measure to curb the potential spread of the virus was to isolate new arrivals. It is important to understand that such measures are more restrictive than ‘stay at home’ recommendations or Activity report NCPT 2020 5