[ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ]A group of inmates went on hunger strike in March 2020 — also seeking their release because of fears around COVID-19 — and one detainee refused food in February after catching the disease, according to Solidarity Across Borders.Detainees were held in isolation during the February outbreak and only allowed out of their cells to shower or make phone calls, Van Driel said in a recent interview.Van Driel said visits to the detention centre have been suspended since March 16, 2020, and that because immigration detainees are generally held for a short of period of time, conditions are worse than in prisons or jails.“There’s no programming, there’s no services, there’s no.