The press reported on 7 April 2020 that lockdown measures are having severe effects in UK prisons. Several inmates have died after contracting the virus, social distancing has been difficult to observe in already overcrowded environments, and prison staffing levels continue to deplete. At a private prison, it was reported that inmates were being kept in their cells for more than 23.5 hours at a time with only 20 minutes exercise outside, leading to de facto solitary confinement. 

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