07-11-2021 09:55
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REGION – Several departments of the Zaanstad Judicial Complex are currently in quarantine due to corona infections among prisoners and staff. A large part of the approximately 700 inmates have to stay in their wards, are not allowed to receive visitors or are in their cells all day. The Zaanbajes is currently the prison with relatively the highest number of corona cases.
The Judicial Institutions Service (DJI) confirms this after asking NH Nieuws. At the moment, 37 of the seven hundred detainees in JCZ have tested positive for corona. It is not clear how the virus got inside the prison walls.
The mega prison in Westzaan consists of five clusters: north, east, south, west and the Penitentiary Psychiatric Center. Each cluster has departments again, six of which are currently in department quarantine. This protocol takes effect in the event of multiple infections in one department.
Prisoners cannot leave the ward, cannot go to work (labour) or participate in activities, such as sports. They are also not allowed to receive visitors. They can recreate, cook and air. The staff, the Penitentiary Institutional Workers, of that department do not wear protective clothing, but must remain within their department.
The Judicial Institutions Service (DJI) confirms this after asking our media partner NH Nieuws. At the moment, 37 of the seven hundred detainees in JCZ have tested positive for corona. It is not clear how the virus got inside the prison walls.
The mega prison in Westzaan consists of five clusters: north, east, south, west and the Penitentiary Psychiatric Center. Each cluster has departments again, six of which are currently in department quarantine. This protocol takes effect in the event of multiple infections in one department.
Prisoners cannot leave the ward, cannot go to work (labour) or participate in activities, such as sports. They are also not allowed to receive visitors. They can recreate, cook and air. The staff, the Penitentiary Institutional Workers, of that department do not wear protective clothing, but must remain within their department.
Locked up in their cell
At cluster east an entire department is in cell quarantine until 7 November: all prisoners who are there are therefore not allowed to leave their cells, only to air (alone) once a day. “It is a drastic measure, but also necessary to prevent further spread,” DJI spokesman Robert Meijer told NH Nieuws.
According to him, the atmosphere at the moment is ‘generally calm’ in the prison. “The majority of the detainees understand the situation. They see its importance for their own safety and health. Our employees do their best to maintain a good atmosphere. The situation demands a lot from our staff.”
A source reports that several colleagues have also called in sick because they have tested positive for corona. In a general sense, the spokesperson was able to confirm that prison staff sometimes also stay at home.
The outbreak of infections would also have led to a withdrawal. That means no new inmates are hired or moved. For example, nurses would not have to work evening shifts because there are no ‘new arrivals’, according to a source. According to the DJI, this is not the case at the moment.
It is not the first time that there have been corona cases in JCZ: in 2020 NH Nieuws reported several times that there were (some) prisoners had tested positive. Then certain departments also had to go into lockdown.
Vaccination rate prisoners
The director of the prison Obe Veldman estimates that about thirty percent of the inmates have been vaccinated.
Official figures about this are not known, according to the DJI, because only inmates who have received a vaccination in prison are registered. In addition, the inflow and outflow is ‘large’. Prison staff is not obliged to vaccinate, but this is advised by the DJI.
By Maaike Polder/NH News
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