Outbreaks at prisons leave manpower stretched: CSD

The Correctional Services Department (CSD) said on Thursday that around 1,000 people in custody had tested positive for Covid-19 in the past two weeks, and a growing number of staff falling ill have also put facilities under stress.

In a statement, the department said the majority of the infected inmates are asymptomatic.

They were mainly detained at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre, Stanley Prison, Lo Wu Correctional Institution and Pik Uk Correctional Institution, a spokesman said.

The department had already converted two facilities to quarantine infected inmates and their close contacts, and said it is now converting a half-way house into a third isolation centre.

The CSD said a ban on prison visits that was imposed on February 5 will now be extended to at least March 20, as the department believed “the number of infection cases of staff and persons in custody is anticipated to remain high in the coming weeks”.

The department said daily operations of correctional institutions have been “seriously affected”, after about 1,000 staff – or roughly one in seven employees – had been unable to work wither because they were infected or were considered to be close contacts of patients.

The CSD said it had since moved back-office workers, including those providing staff training and involving in rehabilitation, to the front line.

Earlier in the day, Albert Au from the Centre for Health Protection had said health officials were aware of the situation, and had been in touch with correctional authorities.

“The CHP has been in close liaison with the CSD in implementing prevention and control measures inside the prisons. And we have provided infection control advice, and advice on quarantine arrangements for the infected persons in the prisons,” he said.