TY - JOUR T1 - Prison and opportunities for the management of COVID-19 JF - BJGP Open JO - BJGP Open DO - 10.3399/bjgpopen20X101106 SP - bjgpopen20X101106 AU - Des Crowley AU - Walter Cullen AU - Patrick O'Donnell AU - Marie Claire Van Hout Y1 - 2020/06/10 UR - http://bjgpopen.org/content/early/2020/06/08/bjgpopen20X101106.abstract N2 - 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.The majority of the prison population globally (estimated at 11 million people) are young adult males, a cohort not typically considered vulnerable to the serious effects of COVID-19.2 Prison life is based on structure and routine, factors which may contribute to effective management of infection outbreaks.Screening and preventionOver 30 million people worldwide come into prisons’ health services annually.2 Prison committal is an opportunity to review prisoners’ health needs, and has been identified as an opportunity to screen for infections.3 A previous systematic review highlighted the success of opt-out committal HIV and hepatitis C screening in prison settings.3 Prison committal provides an opportunity to screen patients for COVID-19, and should be part of any containment strategy involving increased testing and contact tracing. People entering and exiting prison are … ER -