A prison made up of six cells in the unused annexe of a young offenders centre surrounded by barbed wire fencing on the outskirts of the small northern town of Neumünster, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. The facility launched this month and sees inmates locked up to ensure they self-isolate, with 40 retired police officers volunteering as guards.
To be sent to the facility, a person must be refusing to properly isolate after travelling, being exposed to a high-risk contact or having received a positive test result.
Inmates are allowed televisions, laptops and mobile phones, and the rooms – situated down a prison-like corridor – contain a comfortable bed, while psychological support is also available.
Peter Schröder, the local councilor at Neumünster who is taking responsibility for the prison, said it will be used more as a deterrent.
“We hope the effort will set an example,” he told a press conference in recent weeks.
“We hope there will be hardly any cases [of people being incarcerated in this way]. Up until now there have not been many.”
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