The contaminated guard had been last scheduled for March 23 – six days before having tested positive, details the DGRSP in a written response sent to the Observer. Which, however, does not invalidate that it had been in contact with guards and prisoners already infected and without knowing it, especially if you were asymptomatic.
From the outset, Jorge Alves explains that contacts with other prison guards are not limited to colleagues on duty, since, when surrender is made, the two shifts are simultaneously “in the same prison area checking the inmates who are and if it’s all right”. Afterwards, this guard used to work in external due diligence, but since, with the declaration of a state of emergency, the inmates’ exits were suspended, he started to work at the reception desk to receive bags and in the cafeteria. “I was there for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is where he may have been in contact with all the prisoners“, Says the union president. Three inmates who had contact with the infected guard asked to be tested.
In addition to this, there are two more cases of infection with the new coronavirus in Portuguese prisons. An assistant of medical action at the Prison Hospital of São João de Deus, in Caxias, tested positive for Covid-19 and is quarantined at home, says the DGRSP. “The workers at the Prison Hospital are following the procedures recommended by the public health authorities, and, to date, there is no record of any more positive cases among workers in this health unit”, he adds.
The third case is that of a Brazilian woman who was arrested while trying to enter the border of Caia with 5080 doses of cocaine sneaked in the clothes. After the test for the new coronavirus was positive, she was transported by INEM to the Prison Hospital of São João de Deus, where she is in isolation and treatment.
Other countries have already taken decisions in this direction. In Iran, where there are more than 40,000 people infected and more than 2,700 people died, about 85 thousand prisoners have already been released: these are people who had been sentenced to less than five years in prison. Prisoners serving longer sentences and those arrested for participating in anti-government protests remain in prison.
In Spain, over two thousand prisoners were ordered to release with electronic surveillance. There are now 4,381 prisoners at home with bracelets, compared to 2,230 that were before the outbreak. In France, about 1,600 people have already been released who were two months from the end of the sentence. Last Wednesday, the French Minister of Justice announced several measures aimed at simplifying procedures and allowing the release of five to six thousand prisoners – which does not include terrorists or those convicted of domestic violence.
In Canada, the Ontario government also has already started to release prisoners. After a prison guard tested positive for the new coronavirus, the prosecution decided to release prisoners who are at low risk of danger and are about to serve their sentence. In Turkey, where prison overcrowding is also a problem, the government has presented a bill that foresees releasing about 100 thousand of the 300 thousand prisoners of the total prison population – excluded are convicted of terrorism or crimes against the state.
But there are also countries that have not yet taken any decisions, such as Russia – one of the countries with the largest prison population. Some institutions that fight for human rights have already started to express their concern and issuing communiqués on how to prevent and combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
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