Covid Cases In Prisons in England and Wales Double in October

London: The number of prisoners who have tested positive for coronavirus in England and Wales since the start of the pandemic more than doubled in the space of a month in October, figures reveal. At the end of October, 1,529 prisoners had tested positive for Covid-19 since March, an increase of 883 on the September figure, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures show. The MoJ has been testing all symptomatic prisoners since April. In addition, five prisoners died having tested positive for Covid-19 in October – the first prisoner deaths since June, bringing the total number of prison deaths to 32, an 18% rise on September. There are about 79,000 prisoners in England and Wales. A mass testing programme of all prisoners in 28 prisons – covering about a fifth of the population – to help understand the spread of the disease in jails has been running since July and any inmates who test positive are included in the data.

Read more: Jamie Grierson, Guardian, https://is.gd/YwkpGg