Beijing admitted that, by February 20, over 500 people in five prisons had been infected with the coronavirus.
- Wuhan Women’s Prison – 230 cases
- Hubei Provincial Hanjin Prison – 41 confirmed cases and 9 suspected cases
- Hubei Juvenile Correctional Institute – 1 suspected case
- Rencheng Prison, Shandong Province – 200 confirmed cases and 10 suspected cases
- Shilifeng Prison, Zhejiang Province – 34 cases.
To respond to the incidents, Guo Shenkuo, Communist Party Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee which oversees the prison systems visited a detention center and a prison on February 23. He called for “wartime state” prison management.
1. Excerpt in Chinese:
中国司法部监狱管理局负责人何平今天在记者会宣布，截至2月20日24点，全国有湖北、浙江、山东5个监狱发生了罪犯感染疫情。其中武汉女子监狱确诊230例，湖北汉津监狱确诊41例、疑似9例。湖北未成年人管教所疑似一例，山东任城监狱确诊200例，疑似10例。浙江省十里丰监狱确诊34例。
Source: Radio France International, February 21, 2020
http://www.rfi.fr/cn/中国/20200221-中国监狱爆发新冠疫情-超过500人感染
2. Excerpt in Chinese:
郭声琨在司法部部长傅政华、中央政法委副秘书长白少康等人陪同，前往三河市看守所和司法部燕城监狱，检查当局的封闭管理、排查监测等工作；又透过影片视察监区隔离关押及分餐情况。他指要深刻吸取个别监狱的疫情教训，并采取非常之举、拿出战时之策，遏制疫情在监狱扩散，而最有效的防控措施是严格的封闭管理。
郭声琨要求加强源头管控及把好入口关，全面及彻底做好排查及监测，落实人员及车辆进出等规定，坚决切断病毒输入渠道，做到无盲区及无漏洞，织密织牢疫情防控防线。他强调战时状态下必须严肃战时纪律，并坚决克服官僚主义及形式主义。
Source: Oriental Daily, February 23, 2020
https://hk.on.cc/hk/bkn/cnt/cnnews/20200223/bkn-20200223080905948-0223_00952_001_cn.html