CAT/OP/11
B.
Selection of members and risk assessment
13.
Members of the visiting team should be selected carefully, taking into consideration
risk factors for the disease as indicated by WHO, 8 as well as their experience, availability,
willingness and personal circumstances, including age and underlying medical conditions.
Participation in visits should be on a voluntary basis only.
14.
Participants are advised to see their family doctor to understand their personal risks in
case they become infected. They are also advised to consult their insurance coverage. 9
C.
Vaccination
15.
Current scientific knowledge indicates that vaccination is the best way to ensure
protection from the most serious cases of COVID-19 and, in this sense, members of national
preventive mechanisms are encouraged to consider vaccination, in addition to all already
recommended protection measures.
D.
Testing
16.
Under the principle of “do no harm”, members of national preventive mechanism
visiting teams should find a way to monitor the health of their visiting experts regularly to
ensure that they are not bringing the virus into places of deprivation of liberty. This may
include a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test or a rapid test. It would be desirable to have
a test prior to a visit. A negative test does not mean that a visiting team member should stop
observing the protective measures. In addition, the national preventive mechanism must bear
in mind that, with the current level of knowledge, it is not certain that vaccination or natural
immunity will prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting the virus. Those
participants with a positive result must refrain from participating in the visit.
E.
Self-evaluation checks
17.
On the day of the visit, members of the team are invited to monitor their health and
well-being before the visit, including by taking their temperature. 10 The self-evaluation
questionnaire contained in the annex may be useful in this regard.
18.
If any member feels any of the critical symptoms, that is, fever, dry cough, difficulty
breathing or loss of sense of smell and taste, 11 they must then refrain from participating in
the visit.
19.
The national preventive mechanism should bear in mind that a participant may feel ill
inside a place of deprivation of liberty, and it should be ready to act, allowing for selfisolation.
F.
Training
20.
All members of the national preventive mechanism are invited to familiarize
themselves with WHO materials on COVID-19 in prisons and other places of detention. 12
8
9
10
11
12
See www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public.
“Propuesta metodológica trabajo de monitoreo frente a la emergencia sanitaria COVID 19”, 28 April
2021.
Association for the Prevention of Torture and Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR), “Guidance: monitoring
places of detention through the COVID-19 pandemic” (Warsaw, OSCE/ODIHR, May 2020).
See www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_3.
See www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-determinants/prisons-and-health/focusareas/prevention-and-control-of-covid-19-in-prisons-and-other-places-of-detention/faq-preventionand-control-of-covid-19-in-prisons-and-other-places-of-detention.
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