Visits set to resume in Hong Kong prisons after Correctional Services Department brings Covid-19 outbreak under control
- Family visits to inmates were first halted on February 5, with some worrying the suspension would take a toll on the mental health of their loved ones behind bars
- However, when visits resume later this month, they will be subject to certain conditions, including that guests be vaccinated
Prison visits for friends and family members of inmates are set to resume, albeit with certain conditions, after the Correctional Services Department (CSD) declared it had brought an outbreak of Covid-19 in its facilities under control.
The prison authority announced on Friday that starting from March 24, inmates serving sentences would be allowed one visit per month, and detainees remanded while awaiting trial would get two. The move would bring an end to a six-week suspension of personal visits that families had feared would take a toll on the mental health of their loved ones behind bars.
However, to prevent a resurgence of cases, the department said each visit would be limited to one guest, with visitors required to show a negative result from a rapid Covid-19 test conducted no more than one day prior.
Visitors must also have received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine, unless they have a medical exemption, and use of the government’s exposure notification app “Leave Home Safe” will be mandatory.
Legal visits, which were suspended in early March, have also resumed, with lawyers required to observe the same arrangements, except for the limit on the number of guests.
The CSD said a recent rash of Covid-19 cases in prisons had been contained through a combination of rapid testing, social distancing and isolating close contacts, along with sending those who needed medical care to isolation facilities.
“The authority has prevented an exponential outbreak at correctional services institutions for now, and daily confirmed cases have fallen from a peak of 140 to an average of 75 this week,” it said.
