As announced by the Ministry of Justice of the Government of the United Kingdom, some measures are implemented to protect the NHS (National Health Service) from coronavirus risk in prisons.

One of the measures that form part of the national plan to protect the NHS from further pressure, and therefore save lives is to temporarily release risk-assessed prisoners, who are within two months of their release date, from jail.

The selected low-risk offenders to be released will be electronically tagged and their release will take place in stages. Of course, prisoners who have passed the strict criteria for release will subsequently be subject to stringent conditions. They will be electronically monitored at any time, using GPS tags, to enforce the requirement to stay at their homes. Needless to say, the offenders can be recalled at the very first sign of concern, if they breach any of the given conditions for release, or commit further offences. Violent and sexual offenders and those of security concern will not be considered for the temporary release, as public protection is paramount.

Nor will any prisoner who has not served at least half of his custodial term will be released. Prisoners who have shown symptoms of coronavirus previous to the release will not be released either, and it has to be ensured that housing and health support are in place before a person can be temporarily released from prison. As of April 4^th, 88 prisoners and 15 staff members have been tested positive for COVID-19 in the UK.

The measure is taken in order to avoid that thousands of prisoners become infected due to the close proximity that exists between prisoners in jails who share cells. As an increased infection rate in prisons would very likely lead to overwhelmed local NHS services, it is considered as necessary given the current situation with COVID-19. The implemented measures will also benefit prison staff. Additionally to the temporary releasers, prisons are moving towards single-cell accommodation whenever possible in order to limit the spread of infection through social distancing between prisoners, especially the ones at risk. The Prison Service has taken decisive action to make sure that prisons in the UK are complying with social distancing rules, and provides alternate means to ensure that prisoners can keep in touch with their families, as family visits have been cancelled.

By implementing the temporary release measure, the UK government follows public health advice that warns of the risk that prisons present as a unique environment where rapid outbreaks of the novel coronavirus could place a significant strain on the local NHS services. It is seen as an action taken to find balance between protecting the public on one hand and managing the risk of an escalating situation in prisons, on the other hand.

All taken actions have been informed by the advice of experts from Public Health England and will be kept under constant review.