By Victoria Mckeown-
Covid-19 in 95 UK courts has been reported among Judges, staff, jurors and court users at 95 court sites in less than a month, according to latest figures released by the Ministry of Justice.
Figures published by courts minister Chris Philp last week show that between 26 January and 19 February, HMCTS received reports of confirmed cases for 82 staff, 16 judges, 13 jurors and 53 court users across 95 court locations.
Staff at 48 courts tested positive for Covid-19, including five staff members at Bromley County and Family Court. Judges at 14 courts, jurors at 12 courts and court users at 40 courts also had the coronavirus.
The finding highlights concerns for both court users and staff, particularly for barristers and solicitors who attend court to defend or prosecute individuals or organisations.
However, HMCTS representatives told The Eye Of Media.Com that ”most courts are now covid secure, and the history of covid cases found in courts does not expose court users to the virus if they follow the rules when attending court”.
Courts in the UK have suffered serious lags in hearing due to the pandemic, but have for the past few months restricted the number of delayed cases in an effort to keep the justice system functioning.
The table only includes court locations within the HMCTS estate where we have learnt about a new positive case within the dates given above. All other court sites have not reported any new cases between these dates. There should be no assumption that a positive case indicates that there has been transmission within a court building.’
Philp said the positive test rates were falling in line with national numbers and the incident rate among staff was trending around the national average.
HMCTS have now stipulated for jurors to wear fluid resistant surgical masks, provided by the court, in smaller deliberations rooms that operate with 1m distancing plus other safety mitigations.
HMCTS also began piloting lateral flow testing at London’s Southwark Crown Court last month, weeks after it was introduced at Manchester Civil Justice Centre.