Nine prison staff have tested positive for coronavirus in France and around 230 detainees have been placed in sanitary confinement, the administration of the prison administration announced on Friday.
230 confined prisoners
About a third of the 230 detainees placed in confinement are incarcerated in the Paris region, said the DAP. " As soon as we have suspicions, people are obviously confined: we ensure that there is no spread of the virus, " said Keeper of the Seals Nicole Belloubet on FranceTV Info. For confined prisoners, " individual confinement " is recommended, according to the DAP. But in some prisons " collective confinement " has been put in place, such as in Fresnes where the confined have been grouped in a wing of detention.
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Only one detainee, a 74-year-old man at Fresnes prison (Val-de-Marne), has tested positive so far. Died Monday evening, he had not been in contact with the rest of the prison population, according to the Ministry of Justice.
Masks to protect staff
Nine prison staff tested positive for coronavirus, including two nurses and the human resources director at Fresnes. " About 300 " prison officers in France, out of a total of around 70,000, " are in their fortnight at home, " said the DAP, and 50 others are out of their fortnight.
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The 100,000 masks promised for prisons " will be in penal establishments by Monday at the latest ," said Nicole Belloubet. " They are primarily intended for prison staff who are in contact with suspect detainees ".
The visiting rooms for the families and relatives of the detainees have been suspended since Wednesday in order to prevent the spread of the virus in prisons, which have more than 70,000 detainees and suffer from chronic overcrowding. Likewise, outside workers can no longer go to prison.
