48 Thais deported from Malaysia after serving prison sentences

Malaysian authorities have sent home 48 Thais after finishing their prison sentences for working illegally. The 38 males and 10 women were deported to Thailand’s southern Songkhla Sadao district where they were immediately tested for Covid-19 upon arriving and sent to mandatory 14 day quarantine facilities. The main border checkpoint at Sadao was closed for 14 days following a surge in new cases in the north Malaysian Kedah State. Some prisoners were also departed just before the borders closed. All other land border checkpoints were left open, and remain open at this time.

All 48 reportedly tested negative for the virus upon repatriation. Malaysia allowed the border crossing of the Thais despite temporarily closing the border in Kedah State for 2 weeks due to a recent surge in Covid cases which saw more than 100 new cases in the past week alone. Currently, Malaysia has seen 10,167 positive cases of the virus since its commencement, according to worldometers.info with 130 virus-related deaths.

GRAPHIC: worldometers.info

SOURCE: TNT