a difficult task. The inmates also referred to difficulties in maintaining hygiene in such cells. It was difficult even to wash hands, with so many people having to use the same toilet zone. The inmates also reported that the situation caused conflicts, in particular in the morning when everyone was getting ready for the morning roll call252. ☞ The maintenance of hygiene is one of the basic needs of every human being. In the times of the epidemic risk, it should be a priority for all individuals as it may have a direct influence on people’s life and health. Everyday life in such a large group of people entails the risk of catching not only the coronavirus but also other diseases253. A change of the conditions, in particular in the times of the pandemic, is of critical importance. Yet, such a change does not have to entail the necessity to reconstruct the establishments or allocate large financial resources. A good example is the prison in Jastrzębie-Zdrój where the capacity of one of the cells was officially reduced and it was decided not to place more than 9 inmates there, even though there were up to 10 places. Such a practice should be introduced in all the establishments that struggle with the problem of multiple occupancy cells for more than 7 inmates. Until the establishment’s reconstruction, the official capacity of the multiple occupancy cells should be reduced to a maximum of 7 places. During the visits to the penitentiary establishments, the NMPT was also interested in inmates’ access to hot water during the COVID-19 pandemic. In most of the visited establishments, the prisoners had access to hot water 24 hours a day254. In the remaining establishments, hot water was available in the cells several times a day. In some of those establishments it was available three times a day, just like before the pandemic255, in others, it was available more often than before it256. 252 See: Report on the NMPT visit to the remand prison in Białystok (KMP.571.17.2020). 253 The Expert Network on External Prison Oversight and Human Rights is of a similar opinion. See: the special issue of the network’s newsletter: ADAPTING TO COVID-19. Medical Isolation and Quarantine in Prison during a Pandemic, Office of the Correctional Investigator, Ontario 2020, pp. 7–8. See: Reports on the NMPT visits to the remand prisons in Międzyrzecz (KMP.571.16.2020), Wrocław (KMP.571.11.2020), Kraków (KMP.571.9.2020) and Białystok (KMP.571.17. 2020), the prisons in Sztum (KMP.571.10.2020) and Bydgoszcz-Fordon (KMP.571.24.2020), prison no.1 in Grudziądz (KMP.571/12.2020), and the prisons in Potulice (KMP. 571.8.2020) and Rzeszów (KMP.571.15.2020). See: Report on the NMPT visits to the prisons in Czarne (KMP.571.21.2020), Łupków (KMP.571.26.2020) and Krzywaniec (KMP.571.13.2020). 254 255 See: Reports on the NMPT visits to the prisons in Nysa (KMP.571.19.2020) and Chełm (KMP.571.14.2020). 256 See: Reports on the NMPT visits to the prisons in Czarne (KMP.571.21.2020), Barczewo (KMP.571.22.2020) and Czerwony Bór (KMP.571.25.2020). 95