Prison COVID Worries – Opposition Senator Calls for Release of Low-Risk Detainees

Originally published by The Gleaner on 31/03/2020

Summary

The commissioner of corrections in Jamaica has stated that his team has been preparing for COVID-19 in jails for weeks and has a prevention plan to decrease the risk of spread. This plan includes temporarily suspending all external visits to the facilities operated by the Department of Correctional Services.However, an Opposition Senator is calling for the government to rethink its rejection of the early release of low-risk inmates. On March 13, the Minister without Portfolio said that the Jamaican Government would not be releasing low-risk or short term inmates from correctional and remand centers even if COVID-19 became an issue within prisons.