Was he infected inside Fresnes prison (Val-de-Marne) or was he already carrying the virus before his incarceration on March 8 in an individual cell? A 74-year-old detainee tested positive for coronavirus on Friday. This is the first known case in French prisons which have more than 70,000 detainees, according to the spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, Agnès Thibault-Lecuivre.
Friday, the Minister of Justice, Nicole Belloubet, had indicated that a Fresnes nurse had contracted the virus. She worked in a division with approximately 800 inmates. At this stage, the link between the two contaminations has not been established in this most populous prison establishment in France after Fleury-Mérogis (Essonne). In heavy prison overcrowding, Fresnes welcomes 2,159 inmates for 1,320 places.
"Breathing problems" upon arrival
Incarcerated on March 8 in an individual cell, the 74-year-old detainee was taken Friday, after the appearance of first symptoms, to the Kremlin-Bicêtre hospital where his contamination was proven. This septuagenarian had been the subject of "special monitoring" upon his arrival in Fresnes because of his age and his "state of health", said the spokeswoman.
"When he arrived, he was someone who already had respiratory problems, so he was directly placed in the fortnight," said Jean-Christophe Petit, supervisor in Fresnes and local secretary Ufap-Unsa.
A "monitoring device" put in place
The detainee "has always been placed in an individual cell and has not been in contact with other detainees," said the Chancellery spokeswoman. Her extraction to the hospital was done in compliance with "health security guidelines", including the wearing of masks, she said. His state of health is not known.
A "monitoring device" has since been set up in Fresnes for prison staff who have been in contact with the detainee, added Agnès Thibault-Lecuivre.
According to the unions, a wing of the prison was released to free up space in an individual cell in order to place in solitary confinement any detainee with symptoms of coronavirus. Frédéric Boyer, supervisor and local secretary, Force Ouvrière, deplored the “lack of transparency” of the management, which did not inform his union of this case of coronavirus until the day after the prisoner's hospitalization.
Delicate prison management during an epidemic
As the coronavirus progresses in the country, the objective in prison is twofold: "to maintain the continuity of the prison public service" and "to avoid the propagation of the epidemic inside the detention, as outside", according to the Directorate of Prison Administration (DAP). The advantage of behind closed doors is notably to be able to quickly identify possible patients and trace their contacts in an environment where the staff is used to managing contagious, benign diseases such as scabies, or potentially serious diseases such as tuberculosis.
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But the difficulty will essentially be to manage an explosion of cases in overcrowded prisons (116% occupancy rate on average), where individual confinement remains a challenge. Associations like the International Prison Observatory (OIP) wonder how the DAP will be able to free individual cells.
In February, the DAP asked the school heads to appoint a coronavirus “referent”, who oversees the implementation of the device to limit the risks of spread, the renewal of hygiene kits for prisoners (soaps, products maintenance ...) and visitor information.
Judicial authorities are also asked to "favor the use of videoconferencing" rather than extracting detainees who have to go before a judge or at a hearing, to limit the risk of contagion. Hydroalcoholic gel is not authorized for prisoners - due to the ban on alcohol in prison - but diluted bleach is distributed for disinfecting cells.
Mutinies in Italy
In Italy, the arrival of the epidemic has provoked mutinies in prisons. The detainees rebelled against the ban on family visits, and sounded the alarm because of the risk of being infected with the virus, due to the promiscuity between prisoners.
The abolition of visiting rooms "is not envisaged" in France, ensures the spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice, which provides for decisions on a case-by-case basis in the 188 French prisons.
VIDEO. Coronavirus in Italy: prison mutinies kill several
