Prison and opportunities for the management of COVID-19.

COVID-19 is a new highly contagious viral infection that can be transmitted by asymptomatic patients. Without a vaccine or a specific cure for this disease, our current management strategy is to attempt to contain its spread. The many risks and challenges of managing COVID-19 in prisons have been reported and include: overcrowded prison environments, the poor general heath profile of prisoners, the quality of prison healthcare services, existing high levels of communicable diseases, and the inability to comply with most social distancing and hand hygiene rules.1 However, little attention has been focused on the opportunities that prison healthcare can provide in the management of COVID-19 and other public health concerns. Drug use and policy Early release of certain groups of prisoners to reduce prison populations worldwide has been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international organisations in recent months.....