“Social distancing is almost impossible”: while several sources of contamination have been detected, prison staff unions are asking for reinforced measures to curb the spread of the pandemic in prisons.
The new outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic has caused several outbreaks of contamination in French prisons according to statistics communicated on Wednesday by the Ministry of Justice qualified as“Disturbing” by unions. At the national level, 370 contaminations were detected among some 70,000 detainees, 448 among the staff (out of approximately 40,000), indicates this report of the ministry established on December 27.
A large outbreak was identified in Perpignan prison, where 84 inmates and 15 staff members were diagnosed positive for Covid-19. “The population is quite young and there is no serious form” of the disease, specifies the ministry adding that there is “Enough staff to allow rotation” and “Evolve rapidly”.
“We condemn someone to prison, not to catch the Covid”
The General Controller of Places of Deprivation of Liberty (CGLPL) Dominique Simonnot for her part reported on Wednesday on Franceinfo other sources of contamination in “Rennes, in Béziers, in Argentan (and) another in the Lot …”. “And that’s normal: have you heard a word from prisons in speeches by the Prime Minister or the Minister of Health (December 27, editor’s note)? Me no”, commented Dominique Simonnot. “A special measure would be beneficial. We condemn someone to prison, not to catch the Covid ”, she still believes.
Wings of buildings with individual cells are already dedicated to contaminated prisoners, recalls the ministry. But several prison staff unions are waiting for reinforced measures, in particular the distribution of FFP2 masks. “If we do not act very quickly, the risk of malfunction is significant. With the increase in the prison population, the potential for contamination is much greater than in 2020 “, says Wilfried Fonck, national secretary Ufap-Unsa Justice.
“Social distancing is almost impossible”
The number of people incarcerated in French prisons stood at 69,992 people for 60,775 operational places, up for the 4th consecutive month, according to statistical data from the ministry at the end of December. Since September, 1,520 additional detainees have been registered. “Social distancing is almost impossible for certain missions such as body searches or physical interventions in the event of an incident”, emphasizes Wilfried Fonck.
Additional measures have already been taken locally. Plexiglas panels have thus been reinstalled in the visiting rooms of Fleury-Mérogis prison (more than 3,000 inmates), where the number of cases has risen sharply, according to Didier Kandassamy, of FO Pénitentiaire. Salah Abdeslam, the main accused at the trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015, is one of the contaminated detainees. Screening of detainees housed on the same floor as he was scheduled for this Wednesday, before an operation with all prisoners and staff next Monday, according to Didier Kandassamy, who judges the situation “Disturbing”.