Officials found 395 COVID-19 cases among detainees at a facility of the Immigration Bureau in Bang Khen district, Bangkok.
Dr Chawetsan Namwat, acting director for outbreak and health hazard control at the Department of Disease Control, said nine COVID-19 cases were first detected at the Bang Khen detention facility for illegal migrants on March 11.
There were 52 more cases on March 13 and 16 others on March 15.
That prompted concerned organizations including the Ministry of Public Health and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to test 1,556 detainees and officials on March 18-20. The tests found 318 more cases, 20.4% of tested people.
The cluster covered a total of 395 cases who were isolated. The Immigration Bureau stopped moving detainees between cells and receiving new detainees.
The COVID-19 Information Center reported 401 new COVID-19 cases – comprising 46 at hospitals, 337 confirmed through active case finding and 18 quarantined arrivals, as well as one new death raising the toll to 92. (TNA)
