In March 2020, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published a position paper in which it urged Member States to initiate a rapid response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in prisons by means of robust and human rights-compliant infection prevention and control1measures and an enhanced use of non-custodial measures.2 Constituting congregated settings by definition, prisons are hazardous environments in terms of the pandemic. Prisoners – and by extension prison personnel – are exposed to a greater risk of COVID-19 infection and are more vulnerable to its serious health consequences than the general population. Prisons are epicentres for infectious diseases because of the higher background prevalence of infection, the higher levels of risk factors for infection, the unavoidable close contact in often overcrowded, poorly ventilated, and unsanitary facilities, and the poor access to health-care services relative to that in community settings. Infections can be transmitted between prisoners, staff and visitors, between prisons through transfers and staff cross-deployment, and to and from the community. As such, prisons and other custodial settings are an integral part of the public health response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). (COV-003)
