Ten days ago, a group of eight people already tested positive for the coronavirus inside the facility.

A maximum of two people are currently allowed per visit and they have to sit behind plexiglas the entire time. External personnel, such as psychotherapists, may not enter the facility at the moment. These measures initially came into force for two weeks, but may very well be prolonged.

According to the prison administration, it is not clear how Covid-19 made it into the facility. The non-profit association "eran, eraus.. an elo? (English: "in, out... and now?") believes the infection cluster occurred in the prison's laundry section. Grégory Fonseca, spokesperson for the association, noted that it is incomprehensible for inmates that visitors have to comply with the CovidCheck system, while others remain exempt from this rule.

The prison administration decided against a generalised CovidCheck regime as it is too difficult to implement in a facility such as the one in Schrassig. Furthermore, they rely on the recommendations issued by in-house doctors, which means that masks, social distancing, and increased cleaning remain mandatory.

Officials were not willing to convey the vaccination rate inside the prison. During the initial start of the campaign back in April, two thirds of inmates allegedly refused to get the jab.