West Midlands prisons suffer most coronavirus cases in England
West Midlands prisons have been hit with more coronavirus cases than anywhere else in England, new figures have revealed.
Sixteen per cent of confirmed cases of Covid-19 have come at West Midlands jails, as well as 17 per cent of "probable" cases.
As of April 24, there were 48 confirmed cases at prisons in the region and 298 probable cases, a report from Public Health England (PHE) showed.
Six were hospitalised and one died.
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It means the West Midlands prisons have experienced the highest percentage of confirmed and likely cases of Covid-19 in England, more than London.
However, there were two more confirmed cases in London. In the UK as a whole, only Wales has seen more.
The region is home to the UK's largest prison, HMP Oakwood near Wolverhampton, as well as HMP Birmingham, Winson Green.
It comes amid calls from union leaders for prisoners to be tested for the virus, as a way of protecting prison officers, who have previously been dubbed the "forgotten" workforce of the pandemic.
The PHE figures were provided for the West Midlands as a whole, rather than individual prisons. Its report referred to an "outbreak" at Winson Green jail, which has around 1,000 inmates, which had since been contained.
Early cases of Covid-19 at Oakwood were revealed by the Express & Star but G4S, the private firm the runs the jail, has since stopped confirming cases in line with Government policy. It did, however, distance itself from reports cases had run into their dozens earlier this month.
In total, there have been 304 confirmed cases, 1,783 probable cases and 15 deaths at UK prisons.
The PHE report warned a significant risk would remain at prisons for some time, particularly when lockdown measures begin to be lifted.
Tony Merricks, from the Criminal Justice Workers Union, said: "We call upon the UK Government to test prisoners for Covid-19. This will reassure those prison officers that everything is being done to protect them while they are protecting the public."
Meanwhile, the Express & Star understands up to 20 female prisoners at HMP Drake Hall near Stafford have been isolated after developing coronavirus symptoms.
A Prison Service spokesman said: "We have robust and flexible plans in place keep prisoners, staff and the wider public safe based on the latest advice from Public Health England.
“There are positive early signs that these are proving effective.”
