The Villepinte remand center (Seine-Saint-Denis) has 179 inmates positive for the coronavirus, the largest current outbreak of Covid-19 in French prisons, several of which are affected by the new epidemic outbreak linked to the Omicron variant, said Thursday, January 6 the head of the establishment.
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“Today we have 179 people detained who are positive. We went up to 202 on January 1st“, Out of a total of 988 inmates, following a massive screening operation carried out two days earlier, said prison director Michaël Merci, during a visit to the establishment. This screening was organized after the detection of two positive cases on December 22, with the presence of the Omicron variant, which is more contagious, he explained. 621 prisoners agreed to be tested, of which 168 tested positive.
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Restrictions on activities and visiting rooms
“When we became aware of the presence of the Omicron variant, we took action immediately», Assures the director. All collective activities (library, sports hall) have thus been eliminated, as has work in the workshops. Full coveralls and FFP2 masks have been distributed to wardens when they are in detention buildings and to inmates who continue to work (laundry room, kitchen, distribution of meals, etc.). positive detainees or contact cases. They are maintained for the others, but with a plexiglass wall over the entire height. For all cases detected on December 30, isolation will end on January 9. Next, “if within 15 days there is no epidemic resumption, we will be able to reduce“Restrictions, hopes Michaël Merci.
Nationally, 863 contaminations were detected among some 70,000 detainees, and 1,029 among the staff (out of about 40,000), according to statistics communicated Thursday by the ministry, stopped on January 4. The previous report communicated on December 27 reported 370 detainees and 448 contaminated agents. In Perpignan prison, where 84 inmates were diagnosed positive on December 27, the situation is improving, with 40 cases on January 4. In total, “31 establishments are in a cluster situation“, That is to say with at least three simultaneous cases, but with less contaminated than in Villepinte and Perpignan, according to the ministry.
If it does not have the precise rate of vaccination coverage among prisoners, the Chancellery recognizes that it is “lower than that of the general population“, Due to a”reluctance of the penal population to be vaccinated“. In the judicial services (magistrates, clerks …), 484 positive cases were counted, or 1.6% of the workforce, also indicated the Chancellery. “This situation does not lead to paralysis of the activity of the courts. At this stage, business continuity is ensured», She affirmed.