Prisons and Young Offender Institutions: Coronavirus

(asked on 2nd February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

What steps his Department has taken to control the spread of covid-19 in (a) prisons and (b) young offenders institutions; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Lucy Frazer Portrait
Lucy Frazer
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
This question was answered on 2nd February 2021

Since March, we have acted decisively to protect our staff, prisoners and the wider community from outbreaks in prisons and the youth estate. Our compartmentalisation strategy allows us to quarantine new arrivals, isolate those with symptoms, and shield vulnerable prisoners.

We have introduced routine testing of staff, and testing of prisoners on reception and transfer, in all prisons and YOIs. Whilst every death is a tragedy, thanks to the hard work of our dedicated prison staff, we have managed to limit deaths from Covid in the prison estate to far below PHE predictions.

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