Prevalence of COVID-19 infection in the prison system in Espírito Santo/Brazil: persons deprived of liberty and justice workers.

OBJECTIVE

To present a prevalence study held in prisons and estimate the percentage of persons deprived of liberty, health professionals, and prison officers infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Espírito Santo (ES).

METHODS

This is a prevalence study with a sample from 34 ES prisons, stratified between August 31 and September 4, 2020, following the Population-based age-stratified seroepidemiological investigation protocol for COVID-19 virus infection. The participants were interviewed and underwent rapid tests to detect immunoglobulin G and M in the groups mentioned.

RESULTS

Among 1,830 individuals (311 health professionals, 675 prison officers, and 844 persons deprived of liberty - PDL), the prevalence of COVID-19 infection was 11.89% for health professionals, 22.07% for prison officers, and 31.64% for PDL. Most interviewees were male, aged 21 to 40 years, had completed elementary school and higher education, were multiracial, and situated in the Metropolitan area of Vitória.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence was higher among persons deprived of liberty in the closed regime in all regions, as well as prison officers working in the semi-open regime, particularly in the North region. As for the comparison between regimes and regions, differences were identified between PDL groups with positive test results. Effectively combating COVID-19 within the prison system requires prison release actions, testing, and mass vaccination, as well as other health actions.