Canada's prisons preparing for COVID-19, want public to limit visits

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Martha Paynter, a nurse who also researches prisoner health as part of her doctoral studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said prisons and jails are “petri dishes” where disease spreads quickly and inmates can do little to isolate themselves for protection.

“People who are inside cannot easily get away from others, there is poor ventilation, little time outside and a lack of hygiene products,” she said. “It is considered contraband to have access to alcohol-based substances like hand sanitizer. They’re lucky to get a bar of soap. It’s terrifying.”

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Paynter said she was also worried about inmates’ mental health.

‘This is also an anxiety epidemic,’ she said, adding that inmate populations have high rates of mental health afflictions.

‘People who are inside are not able to easily contact their families. They don’t’ have unlimited cellphone plans to call their mom and kid,’ she said. ‘That’s how we outside institutions are going to cope. We can cope with social distancing because of technology. It’s the opposite in jails or prisons.’

Deadly riots recently broke out in Italian prisons after visitors were banned while the country deals with a COVID-19 outbreak that has so far sickened over 17,000 people, including at least 1,266 deaths.

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