The Covid-19 pandemic is gaining ground in prison. At least fifty prison staff and 21 inmates are Covid-19 positive. Several hundred have been placed in sanitary confinement, in different prisons, explains this Friday the Directorate of Prison Administration (DAP).
This assessment shows a doubling of the number of contaminated prisoners compared to the figures communicated the day before. Among the 42,000 prison officers, "50 have tested positive, 793 are in quarantine for 14 days and 78 have already left the fortnight," says DAP.
Concerning detainees, among the 70,000 in 188 French establishments, "21 are positive at Covid-19, 471 are in sanitary confinement, isolated from the rest of detention in individual cells and 94 are already out of fortnight".
The only death among the detainees remains that of a 74-year-old man, imprisoned in Fresnes (Val-de-Marne) on March 8. He died a week later, March 16, without being in contact with the rest of the prison population.
Doubts about the causes of a supervisor's death
A prison supervisor at Orléans-Saran (Loiret), who had been confined to his home for a few days on suspicion of Covid-19, died in the night from Wednesday to Thursday, although a link between his death and the new coronavirus.
The establishments affected by the epidemic include Fresnes, Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone (Hérault), Amiens (Somme), Aiton (Savoie), Orléans-Saran, La Santé (Paris) and Les Baumettes in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône ). In the latter, four detainees were tested positive and transferred to the specially equipped hospital unit in the city; it supports incarcerated people requiring hospitalization in Provence and Corsica. Tests are underway on supervisors and nine personnel have been confined to their homes as a precaution.
Sanctions against mutineers
The DAP, which stresses that the situation was generally calm in the prisons this week, indicates that following the movements of anger last week after the suspension of the visiting rooms (refusal to reintegrate the cells, violence ...), in addition to possible legal proceedings, disciplinary sanctions were imposed on 76 detainees.
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The DAP also drew up a first positive assessment of the increased access to the telephone in detention, which makes it possible to maintain a family bond: "Today we have 45,000 calls per day against 22,000 a week ago".
