ABSTRACT
The prison conditions in Hungary (including overcrowding, inabilities to socially distance) were already a challenge in the pre-COVID-19 period, which made it even more difficult for prison administrators to respond to the pandemic. In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in prisons, a number of special preventive and restrictive measures were taken. Examples include distribution of personal protective equipment to staff, added handwashing facilities, introduction of a mask regime, constant sanitising of surfaces and equipment. As a restrictive measure, visits were suspended, non-essential employment ceased and practical training was also suspended. The positive benefit of the pandemic is the extension of contacts via Skype, because access to internet communication was introduced in order to compensate for the lack of personal visits and of prison leaves. The adopted measures appear to have helped curtail the spread of the virus within prisons.
