COVID-19 spreads through Corradino, 12 cases held in Division 6

Used for solitary confinement, Division 6 is know being used as a quarantine facility

Updated at 13:54 with statement from the Correctional Services Agency

MaltaToday is informed that there are 12 active cases of COVID-19 at Malta's Corradino Correctional Facility, all of which are being held in Division 6.

Division 6 is Corradino's maximum security facility, used as a punitive measure often for solitary confinement. According to a statement by the Correctional Services Agency, the division is being used as a quarantine facility to isolate incoming prisoners.

"This is a precaution against the spread of COVID-19 - prisoners are held in quarantine and all necessary tests are performed during that period. In fact, all the positive cases were related to people who had recently entered the facility," their statement reads.

There were another eight positive cases at Corradino over the last few weeks, the agency holds that they are recovered and have been removed from the division.

Between prison deaths and the use of solitary confinement in the infamous Division 6, the Corradino Correctional Facility has come under fire in recent years for its fear-based discipline model and, in some cells, inhumane conditions. 

The running of the Corradino Correctional Facility has been the undertaking of Alex Dalli for the past three years. He has been known for adopting a military approach at the facility, boasting of a strict clampdown on drugs and violence among prisoners.

Home affairs minister Byron Camilleri this week praised the changes in Malta's prison system, claiming that there is "finally discipline and respect towards authority in the prison." Questioned over the number of deaths in prison, Camilleri said that the "absolute majority" of deaths that have occurred in prison were natural deaths, with no evidence of wrongdoing from the side of prison officials.

Read more: [WATCH] ‘Malta is not the solution to all of Africa’s problems,’ Byron Camilleri says