CAPPTIVE: Regimes, reactions to the pandemic, and progression

Our second CAPPTIVE briefing examines the impact of measures introduced to minimise the risk of infection and prevent deaths. Faced in March 2020 with the possibility of many thousands of deaths in prison from Covid-19, ministers took a decision to try to contain the spread of disease without the significant reduction in prisoner numbers that the government’s health experts recommended. Whilst thankfully limiting the number of deaths amongst prisoners and staff, this briefing shows some of the price of that success. It is a price that prisoners have been paying, and will continue to pay for months and years to come.