297 migrant detainees test positive for Covid
published : 23 Mar 2021 at 09:21
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Wassayos Ngamkham
Almost 300 foreign immigrants at the Immigration Bureau's detention centres in Suan Phlu and Bang Khen have contracted Covid-19.
The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said 98 out of 1,888 foreign immigrants at the detention centres tested positive from March 11 to Saturday. Some 297 more confirmed cases, most of whom entered the kingdom illegally, were reported on Saturday.
Myanmar, Vietnamese and Cambodian nationals were among the infected.
The centres had stopped accepting new detainees, she said. A 120-bed field hospital has been set up at the Royal Thai Police Sports Club on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road.
There have been no reports of infections among immigration officers.
The infected detainees have been separated from the others.
The Immigration Bureau Commissioner admitted the crowded conditions of the centres contributed to infections.
Vocabulary
- commissioner: the head of a particular police force in some countries - ผู้ตรวจการณ์
- contribute to: to help to cause an event or situation - ช่วยก่อให้เกิด
- crowded: packed; full of people or things - แน่น
- detainee: someone who is kept in prison - ผู้ที่ถูกกักขัง คุมขัง
- detention centre: a place where people who have committed offences are kept in detention - สถานกักกัน
- field hospital (noun): a temporary hospital, e.g. near a battlefield, a natural disaster, etc. -
- illegally: in a way that is against the law - อย่างผิดกฎหมาย
- immigrant: a person who has come to a different country in order to live there permanently - ผู้อพยพ, คนย้ายถิ่น
- Immigration Bureau: the government agency dealing with people entering and leaving the country and those who want to live there - สำนักงานตรวจคนเข้าเมือง
- national: a citizen of a particular country - ประชาชน
