PLO head of prisoners' commission details steps Israel is taking to protect Palestinian prisoners from Coronavirus

Official PA TV program Palestine This Morning, on the Coronavirus and Palestinian Prisoner’s Day, hosting Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners' Affairs Qadri Abu Bakr

Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners' Affairs Qadri Abu Bakr: "As a result of the struggles in the prisons in general, …the efforts of the [Red] Cross, and our pleas through the World Health [Organization] (WHO), which also sent a message to the Israeli authorities about the need to care for the prisoners' health, they have recently begun to respond a little – and not in general. Two days ago [April 16, 2020], they began to distribute masks and also to spray [disinfectant] in a few of the wards in some of the prisons, and we hope that this will continue. Court appearances for trials have also been stopped and are being carried out through cell phones or other means, and not in the courts. Transfers between the prisons have been limited and [transfers of prisoners] from ward to ward within the prisons have also been stopped. All of these [measures] can help prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. Praise God, until now there has been no case [among the prisoners]. A number of days ago, less than a week, the occupation authorities declared or announced that an Israeli officer had become sick with the Coronavirus and that he might have come in contact with four or five guys in the Megiddo Prison. Therefore, they isolated the guys who were in contact [with him], including the prison representative [of the prisoners], but after a number of hours, about 10 hours, they announced that this officer who had a high fever was not infected, and therefore they returned the prisoners who were isolated to their wards and cells."