Nakhon Si Thammarat reports Covid outbreak at prison

Nakhon Si Thammarat, a southern Thai province, has a new Covid outbreak: The Correctional Institution for Young Offenders has reported 64 people have already tested positive at the institution with the number only expected to go up. Officials estimate that the number could go as high as 1,000 as they continue to test. The facility has over 2,500 inmates and prison workers.

The misleading name of the prison has many adults with some inmates over 60 years old. The new outbreak has alarmed nearby residents that the virus could leak out into the community. Prison officials assure the public that the institution’s Covid controls are stringent… Provincial public health office chief Dr Charaspong Sukkree says that officials had randomly tested inmates within a high risk group of 608 people, made up of inmates over 60, those with chronic illnesses, and pregnant women. The officials had initially found 64 positive results using antigen test kits to test the inmates. They then used PCR tests to double check the results. The PCR tests confirmed that 64 people had contracted Covid.

Prisoners that tested positive have been segregated from those who tested negative, says Dr Charaspong. He adds that the government will accelerate the vaccination of market workers who had recently tested positive for Covid, in reference to another outbreak the province recently suffered. Today, this southern province reported 418 new cases, bringing the total case number to 11,462.

Thailand’s prisons have persistently been a source of Covid outbreaks throughout 2021.

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SOURCE: Bangkok Post