As prisons begin to allow visits for the first time after lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic, one advocate says the provincial and federal prison systems should be looking at the safe release of prisoners as a public health measure. Prisons have been at the centre of a number of coronavirus outbreaks since the start of the pandemic, including one of the country's largest in B.C. "That's had a tremendous impact on prisoners' mental health and well-being," Mannoe said to host Gloria Macarenko on CBC's On The Coast. At five per cent of the general population, Indigenous people make up 30 per cent of the federal prison population. (Jesse Winter/Reuters)Some correctional facilities in the country have already seen drops in prison population coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: CBC News July 22, 2020 02:15 UTC