Prisoners: Coronavirus

(asked on 19th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, as of 12 February 2021, which (a) prisons and (b) Youth Offender Institutions have more than 10 suspected or confirmed cases of covid-19 among the prisoner population.


Answered by
Lucy Frazer Portrait
Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
This question was answered on 1st March 2021

We have well-developed policies and procedures in place to manage outbreaks and infectious diseases. This means prisons and probation services are well prepared to take immediate action whenever cases or suspected cases are identified. Our measures so far have included restricting regimes, minimising inter-prison transfers and compartmentalising our prisons into different units to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals.

Recognising the unique environment in prisons, we routinely test staff and offenders to bolster our defences against the virus, and conduct mass testing in outbreak sites – meaning we can identify more cases, isolate them earlier and move quickly to contain outbreaks and protect the NHS.

The below table shows the establishments which had more than 10 and 50 open positive cases as of 15 February 2021. Open positive cases are individuals who have tested positive and are either still in their isolation period or are still showing symptoms. Establishments that had more than 50 cases are not listed in the more than ten group, and no prisons or YOIs have more than 100 such cases.

More than 10 open cases

Altcourse, Bedford, Berwyn, Birmingham, Brinsford, Buckley Hall, Cardiff, Chelmsford, Drake Hall, Erlestoke, Gartree, Guys Marsh, High Down, Hindley, Lewes, Manchester, Moorland, Pentonville, Peterborough (Male), Ranby, Risley, Rye Hill, Stafford, Stocken, Stoke Heath, Thorn Cross, Wakefield, Wandsworth, Whatton and Wormwood Scrubs.

More than 50 open cases

Durham, Humber, Isle of Wight, Lindholme, New Hall, Oakwood, Verne, Wayland and Winchester

It should be noted that although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system. Much of the data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic has been done at pace, with recording practices evolving as we understand more about the requirements and conditions we are facing. In order to present the timeliest information, the data presented in this table have not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics.

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