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Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - Lebanon’s biggest prison now has a Covid-19 isolation ward to treat inmates should the virus hit the overcrowded and poorly ventilated detention centre, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday.
Inmates and their relatives have become increasingly vocal about fears that Covid-19 would rapidly spin out of control if it hits Lebanon’s poorly maintained prisons.
“What worries us is him [my father]. As for me, today, I am staying at home. No one visits me, speaks to me or comes into my house. But he is exposed. Very exposed”, Ali Mohamed Awada told the ICRC.
His father is detained in the largest prison in the country, located just east of Beirut in the town of Roumieh.
Mr Awada said that he feared that there are no preventative measures in place to protect his father. “Roumieh is an overcrowded prison. There are elderly people and there are sick people. My father, for example has jaundice,” he said.
To mitigate the risks, the ICRC distributed personal protective equipment to prison staff as well as hygiene products to the 4200 inmates in Roumieh prison.
It also transformed an existing prison building into an isolation ward where sick detainees can be treated, in cooperation with the Lebanese internal security forces (ISF).
“Detainees are particularly vulnerable to the spread of Covid-19 as clean water can be a luxury and soap may be non-existent in many places of detention”, the ICRC said in a statement.
epa08383706 A Ministry of Health staff conducts a random polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for the COVID-19 coronavirus disease infection test for a citizen at Imam Al-Hadi Zentrum in the Ouzai area south of Beirut, Lebanon, 25 April 2020. According to the Lebanese health ministry, there are 704 registered cases of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in the country as of 25 April 2020. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
A Lebanese protester, wearing a protective mask bearing a fist (the sign of the anti-government movement), is pictured during a demonstration in the capital Beirut on April 28, 2020, as anger over a spiralling economic crisis re-energised a months-old anti-government movement in defiance of a coronavirus lockdown. Lebanese protesters confronted army troops for a second day as anger over a spiralling economic crisis re-energised a months-old anti-government movement in defiance of a coronavirus lockdown. Angered by the financial collapse, demonstrators have rallied across Lebanon, blocking roads and attacking banks, re-energising a protest movement launched in October against a political class the activists deem inept and corrupt. / AFP / PATRICK BAZ
Neighbours listen to music and watch laser projections from their balconies as members of the Lebanese collective "Nuage" perform from the roof of a building to entertain confined residents in their neighbourhood of Dekwaneh, on the eastern outskirts of Beirut late on April 28, 2020, integrating social distancing with a new form of entertainment during the COVID-19 lockdown. The DJs and artists who come from an audiovisual background aim to create a unique experience for the audience through a combination of latest technologies with electronic music. The collective relies on merging art direction and 3D mapping techniques, with the aim of relieving fellow neighbours from their daily stress and confinement during the coronavirus pandemic. / AFP / JOSEPH EID
epa08393019 A member of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) distributes protective face masks in Hamra street in Beirut, Lebanon, 30 April 2020. Countries around the world are taking increased measures to quell the widespread of the SARS-CoV-2 corona virus, which causes the Covid-19 disease. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
Neighbours listen to music and watch laser projections from their balconies as members of the Lebanese collective "Nuage" perform from the roof of a building to entertain confined residents in their neighbourhood of Dekwaneh, on the eastern outskirts of Beirut late on April 28, 2020, integrating social distancing with a new form of entertainment during the COVID-19 lockdown. The DJs and artists who come from an audiovisual background aim to create a unique experience for the audience through a combination of the usuage of latest technologies with electronic music. The collective relies on merging art direction and 3D mapping techniques with a light show, with the aim of relieving fellow neighbours from their daily stess and confinement during the coronavirus pandemic. / AFP / JOSEPH EID
Runners smile and react to having their picture taken as they run on Beirut's corniche, or waterfront promenade, along the Mediterranean Sea, on the first day the government began easing a weeks-long lockdown to limit the spread of the coronavirus, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, April 27, 2020. The number of registered virus cases in Lebanon has dropped over the past two weeks, leading to the shortening of the nighttime curfew by one hour and allowing some businesses to resume work on Monday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
epa08383708 A Ministry of Health staff wears a protective face mask and protective suit as he waits for citizens to conduct a random polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for the COVID-19 coronavirus disease infection test at Imam Al-Hadi Zentrum in the Ouzai area south of Beirut, Lebanon, 25 April 2020. According to the Lebanese health ministry, there are 704 registered cases of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in the country as of 25 April 2020.. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
epa08383703 A Ministry of Health staff conducts a random polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for the COVID-19 coronavirus disease infection test for a citizen at Imam Al-Hadi Zentrum in the Ouzai area south of Beirut, Lebanon, 25 April 2020. According to the Lebanese health ministry, there are 704 registered cases of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in the country as of 25 April 2020. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
epa08383410 A Lebanese drummer (Musaharati) wears a protective mask and carries a small drum as he makes his rounds waking Muslims for Suhor, the meal taken during Ramadan before sunrise prayers, amid a lockdown due to the ongoing coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic in Beirut, Lebanon, 25 April 2020. Muslims around the world celebrate the holy month of Ramadan by praying during the night time and abstaining from eating, drinking, and sexual acts during the period between sunrise and sunset. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and it is believed that the revelation of the first verse in Koran was during its last 10 nights. EPA/WAEL HAMZEH
TOPSHOT - Medical staff members of the Saint George Hospital University Medical Centre, in charge of COVID-19 coronavirus patients, are seen in reflections off a window as they listen to music played by a band thanking them for their efforts to support patients during the novel coronavirus pandemic, in Lebanon's capital Beirut on April 24, 2020. / AFP / PATRICK BAZ
Medical staff members of the Lebanese American University (LAU) Medical Centre-Rizk Hospital, currently dealing with COVID-19 coronavirus patients, look out from windows as they listen to music played by a band thanking them for their efforts to support patients during the novel coronavirus pandemic, in the capital Beirut on April 24, 2020. / AFP / PATRICK BAZ
Palestinian fighters from the Fatah movement, left, wearing masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, stand guard next to a Palestinian worker from UNRWA (United Nations Relief and works Agency), right, who is waiting to spray disinfectant at any car that need to enter inside Jalil, or Galilee refugee camp, in Baalbek, Lebanon, Friday, April 24, 2020. Authorities closed all entrances to a Palestinian refugee camp in eastern Lebanon Friday after four more people tested positive for the coronavirus, heightening concerns over the virus spreading among the population of overcrowded refugee camps and settlements. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Palestinian nurse wears protective equipment to help curb the spread of the coronavirus inside a clinic at Jalil, or Galilee Palestinian refugee camp, in Baalbek, Lebanon, Friday, April 24, 2020. Authorities closed all entrances to a Palestinian refugee camp in eastern Lebanon Friday after four more people tested positive for the coronavirus, heightening concerns over the virus spreading among the population of overcrowded refugee camps and settlements. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A Palestinian fighter from the Fatah movement distributes masks for people to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, at Jalil, or Galilee Palestinian refugee camp, in Baalbek, Lebanon, Friday, April 24, 2020. Authorities closed all entrances to a Palestinian refugee camp in eastern Lebanon Friday after four more people tested positive for the coronavirus, heightening concerns over the virus spreading among the population of overcrowded refugee camps and settlements. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Palestinians wearing masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus stand on their balcony watching the arrival of the Lebanese health minister, at Jalil, or Galilee Palestinian refugee camp, in Baalbek, Lebanon, Friday, April 24, 2020. Authorities closed all entrances to a Palestinian refugee camp in eastern Lebanon Friday after four more people tested positive for the coronavirus, heightening concerns over the virus spreading among the population of overcrowded refugee camps and settlements. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A health worker dressed in a protective outfit walks in an alley at the Wavel Palestinian refugee camp (also known as the Jalil camp) in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, on April 24, 2020, after cases of infection by the novel coronavirus were detected there. The residents of the Wavel camp were tested after a member of a household, a Palestinian refugee from Syria, was admitted to the state-run Rafic Hariri hospital in the capital Beirut for demonstrating COVID-19 symptoms. / AFP / -
CORRECTION / A nurse at the Lebanese hospital Notre Dame des Secours shows a heart gesture with her hands as others dance to music played by a band thanking them for their efforts to support patients during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in the northern coastal city of Byblos on April 23, 2020. / AFP / PATRICK BAZ
TOPSHOT - Medical staffers of a Lebanese government hospital dance to music played by a band thanking them for their efforts to support patients during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, in the northern coastal city of Tripoli on April 23, 2020. / AFP / PATRICK BAZ
Lebanese prisons on average hold 220 per cent of their intended capacity. Sources at the Justice Ministry previously told The National that Roumieh prison was originally built for 1,100 detainees.
Abdolhaliem Ahmad, a detention doctor at ICRC, said detainees are not able to practice social distancing.
“Some detainees are elderly, some suffer from chronic diseases, others have physical disabilities or have certain mental health conditions,” he said.
“At ICRC, we believe that detainees have the right to receive the same health care as the community. That is why we set up medical isolation rooms where detainees can have immediate necessary health care assistance on the premises if suspected to have contracted Covid-19,” he said.
The ICRC also installed a swab sampling room where inmates can be tested without leaving the prison.
Colonel Majed Al Ayoubi, Roumieh central prison commander, said that his staff were also worried about high risks of contamination.
“We are worried, and so are the staff members and the detainees,” he told the ICRC. “We are trying as much as we can to avoid the spread of the virus inside the building, especially (as) these buildings are old with weak infrastructure and given that the health conditions in general are poor,” he said.
In addition, the ISF implemented its own preventative measures, including restricting the number of visitors and disinfecting the buildings.
The novel coronavirus has not yet reached prisons in Lebanon and has remained contained in the small Mediterranean country, with 25 deaths and 750 people infected in total.
“There have been no cases of coronavirus in Roumieh or in other places of detention,” said Rona Halabi, ICRC spokesperson. “That is of course very good. However, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be prepared to respond in case there is an outbreak,” she added.
Lebanese prisoners have rioted several times in recent weeks over coronavirus fears. Last month, thirteen soldiers were wounded in the northern city of Tripoli as families of detainees tried to storm a prison and threw stones, glass and fireworks at the army.
Justice Minister Marie-Claud Najm told The National in early April that she was working on releasing one third of Lebanon’s prisoners, or roughly 3000 inmates, to free up space in prisons.
Updated: May 7, 2020 07:17 PM
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