March 31, 2020

Prison Visits Suspended , Skype Is An Alternative

By Newsroom

Visits to the prisons have been suspended with immediate effect, until further notice. But prisoners will have the options of communicating via Skype with their relatives, by appointments. Acting Commissioner of Prisons Dennis Pulchan announced the decision on Tuesday saying it was necessary, based on medical advice to prevent the spread of COVID-19 inside the jail. The prison authorities have taken preventative measures that include thermal scans to screen anyone entering the prisons sanitizing buildings and installing additional additional sinks for handwashing. The measures that were announced today follows  a meeting last Wednesday, via teleconferencing, o the Heads of the various prisons in the Caricom Region at which several measures were discussed. The meeting was coordinated by the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS) which partnered with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) to support countries to take critical steps to prevent and address a potential disease outbreak. “ The Meeting also provided an opportunity for Heads of Correctional Services and Prisons to be exposed to international best practices, procedures, protocols and support measures for both staff and prisoners; as well as social and administrative measures to reduce the psychological impact of the pandemic on employees, inmates, families and visitors. “For both inmates inside prisons and their loved ones outside, communication is a significant help to manage the psychological impact of the outbreak. As some prisons in the Region have stopped visitation, communication is being facilitated through controlled WhatsApp and FaceTime video calls,’ CARICOM IMPACS noted in a Press release. Noting that prisoners have tested positive for COVID-19 in China, France, Iran, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, some Caribbean countries have already taken decisive steps to prevent COVID-19 in prisons, including early release of harmless prisoners, suspension of all visitations and the screening of staff for coronavirus symptoms before they enter prisons. The Heads of Prisons were also presented with WHO published interim guidance on how to deal with COVID-19 in prisons and other places of detention, entitled “Preparedness, prevention and control of COVID-19 in prisons and other places of detention”. The WHO guidance presents the latest evidence and management measures that should be considered in prison specificities. The WHO guidance noted that the global effort to tackle the spread of COVID-19 may fail without proper attention to infection control measures within prisons. Proposals by prison heads to reduce COVID-19 in Prisons at the meeting included the early release of non-violent and sick and elderly inmates who pose absolutely no threat to society but only serve to increase the concentration of persons in prisons; increased screening of staff and prisoners; enhanced information sharing among prisoners and the development of national prison pandemic plans. Other participants at the meeting included the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), International Organization for Migration (IOM), Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), Organisation of Eastern Caribbean states (OECS), the Regional Security System (RSS) and the University of West Indies.      
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