It was with relief that I read in The Royal Gazette last Friday that the British Government was supplying to the Bermuda Government medical equipment, in particular testing kits and personal protective equipment, which arrived yesterday via British Airways.

Questions will continue to arise about what is, or should be, the best national plan for dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. However, we do have a window of opportunity — gleaned from the experience in other countries, and particularly Britain, so we can learn, adapt quickly and adopt certain strategies as to how the spread of the virus ought to be tackled.

To this end, the authorities should monitor Sky TV, the BBC and British broadsheets for their coronavirus coverage. Of course, I am not suggesting that this is all that should be done, but these broadcasts provide good, up-to-date guidance based on real-time experience.

It is clear that two strategies among the several are of paramount importance:

1, The frontline workers are most important, particularly the health workers in King Edward VII Memorial Hospital who are in contact with suspected virus patients. They must be immediately provided with proper certified — not makeshift — PPE kit and equipment. It must be obvious that if these “few” frontline workers are not properly protected, are compromised and become contaminated, it will become much more challenging to treat the population at large

2, This frontline group must also be the first to be screened and tested to make sure that they do not spread the virus if contaminated

These two strategies, which are now obvious from the available learning, must be implemented before the onslaught of the virus hits Bermuda, as predicted by the relevant models. It would be idiotic to think that the exponential numbers so predicted will not come to Bermuda. If implemented, along with other strict health and social practices, this onslaught can be minimised.

The police and prisons officers of Bermuda ought also to be afforded the suggested priority protections. These groups operate in “incubating” environments and have been labelled as high-risk conditions across the globe.

Regarding the prisons, only on Saturday was it announced that low-risk prisoners in Britain would be released on license with electronic-monitoring devices. There is no good reason why Bermuda cannot follow this model.

The whole island is now in lockdown, which makes it cruelly ironic that government inaction in relation to prisons could create a situation where Covid-19 could take hold of those in our prisons.

I know that there are several low-risk prisoners that can be licensed, eg, the drug offenders. This action would at least free up personal space for both the inmates and the guards, allowing social-distancing to be a reality!

Imagine what could happen if, owing to staff shortages, distancing and isolation are not controlled properly in an unhygienic environment with inadequate medical treatment.

I suggest the following steps be taken and explain why.

The starting point is that those on remand — save for exceptional circumstances — benefit from the presumption in favour of bail. They must be kept free unless there are substantial grounds to believe they would fail to surrender, commit further offences and/or interfere with the administration of justice.

The existing island-wide lockdown means that for a defendant who provides an address to the court, they, like everyone else, will be under lockdown if released on bail, similar to curfew.

Curfew is a condition courts can impose when granting bail in any event. The curfew can be electronically monitored. The criminal justice system has the means to ensure public safety while reducing the risk of infection in prisons. There is also a complete halt on flights, which minimises, if not removes, the risk of any prisoner being a flight risk.

In addition, the courts are public bodies. They must act in accordance with the Bermuda Constitution. In particular, they must ensure that rights of the accused — right to life, prohibition of torture or inhuman treatment, right to liberty and security, right to private and family life — are all respected and protected.

It is only a matter of time before someone in prison in Bermuda becomes infected with Covid-19. There may come a point where the continued detention of remand prisoners is a breach of one of their constitutional rights.

There are several reasons why I say remand prisoners should have their bail position reconsidered on an urgent basis: trials in the Supreme Court and Magistrates’ Courts have been postponed, which affects the prisoners’ right to have their trial heard within a reasonable time, all visits to prisoners have been suspended and it is becoming increasingly difficult for a prisoner’s continuing right to an attorney to be met.

The prison does not have the equipment required to meet alternative videoconferencing options. Without proper access to legal advice, it cannot be said that prisoners are able to properly participate in the trial process. Equally, attorneys are not able to effectively prepare and conduct cases.

It seems that the prison’s response thus far has been to clamp down inside the prison, leaving prisoners who have come in from outside in their cells on a daily 23-hour lockdown. As the prisons are not being deep-cleaned, this measure will not stop the virus spreading, and it interferes with the prisoner’s right to prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment.

It goes without saying that the above applies even more so when prisoners are vulnerable — unwell, elderly or young. These people are all the more reliant on outside agencies and contact with care providers for their survival and wellbeing during periods of incarceration, and are far more susceptible to the potentially fatal consequences of Covid-19.

These are some of the very problems that need to be addressed by authorities when reviewing who should be considered for release, and by attorneys and judges when considering bail.

On March 16, when four prisoners in Italian prison tested positive for Covid-19, the Italian Government adopted a decree that, among other measures, allowed for early supervised release of prisoners with less than 18 months left to serve on their sentence. In Northern Ireland, they are releasing 10 per cent of all prisoners.

The need for releases could not be more pressing, and there is precedent for such releases during the present crisis here in Bermuda before inaction results in devastating consequences.

• Victoria Greening is an experienced criminal and public lawyer who works as a sole practitioner under her own name