To ask the Minister of Justice to detail (i) how many prisoners have tested positive for COVID-19 since 2 November 2020; and (ii) the measures in place for protecting other prisoners and prison staff from contracting the virus.

The care of the people who work in and live in our prisons is of paramount importance and is taken very seriously by my Department.

Since 2 November 2020, 9 prisoners In Northern Ireland have tested positive for COVID-19. Of those individuals who tested positive, 4 were in committal quarantine, 2 were in general population and 3 were inpatients in outside hospital.

The Northern Ireland Prison Service was quick to respond to threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and introduced a range of measures to minimise the risk of transmission of the virus within our prisons. These measures include:

Working continually with our healthcare provider, the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, Public Health Agency and Health and Social Care Board to develop joint procedures re testing, isolation, cleaning, PPE, contact tracing against latest health guidance;

Restriction of access to our prisons to essential staff;

Suspension of in person domestic and legal visits, which balanced by the introduction of virtual visits service wide;

Suspension of Accompanied and Unaccompanied Temporary Release;

Shielding arrangements for those prisoners identified as at greater risk by Healthcare in Prisons;

Quarantine, isolation and testing arrangements for new committals and prisoners who become symptomatic;

Self-isolation for staff and testing arrangements for staff and household members;

Prisons also has extensive arrangements in place for the supply and appropriate use of personal protective equipment and for handwashing;

All of this work has been supported by regular communication about the risks of infection and how these can be mitigated. Advice about handwashing, ‘catch it, kill it, bin it’ and social distancing is widely displayed and reinforced at establishment level and service wide;

Introduction of a landing based regime at all establishments;

Contact Tracing arrangements for staff and prisoners within the NIPS Estate;

Face coverings have been issued to all staff and temperature testing has been introduced for all staff entering our prisons. This will applies to essential staff from other organisations accessing each prison establishment.

These measures were taken to ensure that we protect, as best we can, the health, safety and wellbeing of prisoners and prison staff. In implementing these measures NIPS recognised that it is appropriate that they are regularly reviewed to ensure that they remain proportionate and appropriate to the prevailing guidance and circumstances relating to the COVID-19 outbreak in the community.