The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned prisons are likely to see a higher mortality rate from an outbreak because inmates are often already in poor health and care facilities are less efficient than in general society.
Pakistan is already struggling to contain a small cluster of 49 confirmed cases at a Lahore jail, where a prisoner arriving from Italy tested positive in March.
Several high courts in the country ordered the release of hundreds of people awaiting trial or sentenced for petty crimes to ease the burden on creaking systems.
But the country’s Supreme Court abruptly put a halt to the move last week.
In neighboring Afghanistan, the president ordered 10,000 women, young offenders, critically ill patients and older inmates released to “safeguard the health of people”.
So far only a few thousand have been freed.
India has already released thousands of inmates, after the Supreme Court advised prisons to free those awaiting trial for crimes with punishments of seven years or less.
Harsh Mander, a social activist in India, admitted authorities face difficult choices, running the risk of permitting the virus to spread as released prisoners make long journeys home, some to far-flung villages.
“There is of course a trade off — there is a question of them carrying the virus. There is no perfect choice here,” he said.
