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Prisons: Coronavirus

Question for Ministry of Justice

UIN 45184, tabled on 11 May 2020

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many confirmed cases of covid-19 there are in the UK’s prison population by region as at 7 May 2020.

Answered on

19 May 2020

Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service is containing the spread of COVID-19 within prisons using an approach known as ‘compartmentalisation’. Through this approach, staff have isolated those with symptoms, and many prisons have been able to shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals.

The table below details the number of self-reported confirmed cases of COVID-19 amongst the prison population broken down by region. The data in this table is correct as of Thursday 7 May.

However, it should be noted that this is recently collected management information and as yet subject to verification; figures may change at a later date in future statistical publications.

Region

Confirmed cases

Cumbria & Lancashire; Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire

65

Yorkshire; Tees and Wear

38

North Midlands; West Midlands; East Midlands

90

Avon and South Dorset; South Central; Devon and North Dorset

17

Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk; Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk

12

London; Kent, Surrey and Sussex

48

Wales

80

Long Term and High Security Estate

52

TOTAL

402

Sadly, as of Friday 15 May, 21 prisoners have died having tested positive for COVID-19.