HMP BERWYN has taken precautionary covid-19 measures following "a small number of positive cases," it has been said.

The Prison Service has said the establishment continues to "run as normal" and additional support has been brought in to assist staff.

Regarding the presence of the virus inside Berwyn, a Prison Service spokesman said: “We have taken precautionary measures following a small number of positive cases, in line with public health guidance, and will continue to closely monitor the situation.”

The spokesman confirmed the prison has started to test prisoners arriving into the estate, as well those transferring from other prisons, in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

A national plan for responding to outbreaks, published by the Prison Service, sets out three overarching objectives; preservation of life, maintaining security, stability and safety as well as providing sufficient capacity.

It explains: "In response to the threat of COVID-19, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) took decisive action to protect staff and prisoners.

"This involved restricting regimes to implement social distancing, limiting movement of prisoners between prisons, and starting a programme of work to compartmentalise the estate to isolate symptomatic prisoners, shield the vulnerable, and quarantine new entrants.

"There have been a number of tragic deaths, both of staff and of prisoners, and we continue to identify new cases of COVID-19 in custody.

"But despite the inherently closed nature of the prison estate we have successfully avoided the reasonable worst-case scenario of explosive outbreaks and far higher fatality rates."