ABSTRACT
Like many other countries, COVID-19 has affected Estonia very seriously. Strict measurers kept the virus out of prisons in spring 2020, but not in autumn 2020. Despite severe restrictions on contacts with the outside world, more than 200 detainees were infected. By December 2020, the efforts of the authorities to repel the virus from prisons succeeded, and in 2021 COVID-19 has not spread as widely in Estonian prisons as in 2020. The crisis has demonstrated the need to further develop prisoners’ ability to communicate remotely with the outside world. Online communication with the authorities is well established in Estonia, but further resources are needed to improve prisoners’ opportunities for personal online communication. In addition, the crisis has shown that it is very important to move forward with the programme to increase the number of single occupancy cells.
