Establishing prison-led contact tracing to prevent outbreaks of COVID-19 in prisons in Ireland

Abstract

Background Preventing transmission of COVID-19 within prisons is both important and challenging. The confined conditions in prisons can encourage person-to-person spread with the potential for outbreaks occurring. Contact tracing is an important contributor to the longer-term management strategy for COVID-19 in prisons as well as in the community but is highly resource-intensive. This paper describes the approach to contact tracing taken by the Irish Prison Service (IPS). Methods The IPS National Infection Control Team, in collaboration with the National Quality Improvement (QI) team and Health Service Executive (HSE) in Ireland, implemented a programme to develop and train in-prison contact tracing teams (CTTs). CTTs were run by prison staff with experience of working with detainees, prison IT systems and CCTV. Protocols for undertaking contact tracing for both detainee and staff cases of COVID-19 were established. Results All prisons, and two support agencies, within the IPS now have fully functional in-prison CTTs. Every CTT has responded to at least one case COVID-19, undertaken contact tracing and instigated quarantine of contacts. Conclusions A partnership approach with development of prison-led CTTs can provide an effective mechanism for contact tracing of COVID-19 cases within the prison setting.

National Responses for Persons Deprived of Liberty during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines

“…(3) Technical improvement of the health management of the corrections facilities must be continuously supported to prevent the possible new wave of virus infection. For example, Clarke et al (2020) reported the government initiative in Ireland to establish an approach of contact tracing in prisons in which all prisons, and two support agencies, have fully operative internal teams that conduct contact tracing and manage quarantine procedures among the PDLs. On the other hand, as more PDLs are released in the Philippines, there is also a demand to improve the community corrections that will supervise them once they are outside.…”

The utility of video technology and enhanced infection control in reducing COVID-19 disease burden in a custodial setting

“…Typically, video technology is used to monitor the activities of inmates or residents in correctional or detention settings. Our outbreak management protocol is similar to the one developed by the Irish Prison System and described by Clark et al 7 The advantages of video review include the following: (1) Immediate identification of close contacts allowing recommendations for immediate testing, medical isolation, and quarantine; (2) Three hundred sixty degree video angles of the route and location of the individual for up to 30 days prior to identification; (3) Identification of the details of each exposure incident, including observation of whether employees adhered to the recommended infection control practices, and quantification of the duration of exposure using the video timestamp; (4) supplementation of the oral interview in cases where the narrative regarding activities or contacts was unclear. Video review helped improve compliance with infection control protocols because it revealed unidentified issues and areas in need of improvement, such as, appropriate masking and enforcement of social distancing.…”

“…It also allowed the OMT to implement changes such as requiring floor nurses to wear face shields, and installation of sneeze guards on nursing carts. Authors in an earlier study describe limitations such as the lengthy time required to review the video footage, and the accuracy of individual identification if the video was outside the facility or in one of the camera blind spots 7 , 8 . For residents, none of the secondary cases led to further infections thus justifying the cost benefit of the labor intensive video footage reviews to identify unprotected exposures to confirmed cases .…”

British Columbia Provincial Corrections’ Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Correctional Policy and Practice

“…Examples of BC Corrections' health-informed approach include screening and testing everyone who enters custody, operating induction units for asymptomatic individuals and isolation for suspected and confirmed individuals, and providing staff with PPE when physical distance cannot be maintained. BC Corrections also has a procedure that allows for contact tracing, which Clarke et al (2020) argue is a key component of controlling transmission of COVID-19 in correctional institutions. Another primary component of responding to the pandemic through a health-informed approach is ensuring that correctional authorities do not simply default to solitary confinement as the primary solution to minimize transmission of the virus.…”