Thailand has posted a record jump in COVID-19 cases following a spike in infections at the country’s overcrowded prisons and detention facilities that has affected several young activists held on charges of insulting the monarchy.
Health authorities on Thursday reported a total of 4,887 cases in a new daily record for Thailand since the pandemic began.
Of that figure, 2,835 of the cases involved detainees, many of them held in pre-trial detention at two prisons in the Thai capital, Bangkok.
Human Rights Watch, a United States-based rights group, expressed concern over the COVID-19 outbreaks in prisons on Thursday, saying people in custody were at “grave risk”.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: Protest leader Panusaya Rung Sithijirawattanakul, who has spent eight weeks in detention on charges of insulting the country s king, shows a three-finger salut as she leaves after she was granted bail at the Central Women s Correctional Institute in Bangkok, Thailand, May 6, 2021. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Another leader from Thailand’s anti-government protest movement has been infected with the coronavirus after spending eight weeks in jail pending trial on charges of insulting the country’s powerful king.
Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul, who was released on bail last week from pre-trial detention, said on her Twitter account on Wednesday that she was being treated in a hospital after testing positive for the virus following her release.
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BANGKOK, May 12 (Reuters) - Another leader from Thailand s anti-government protest movement has tested positive for the coronavirus after spending eight weeks in jail pending trial on charges of insulting the country s powerful king.
Panusaya Rung Sithijirawattanakul, who was freed on bail last week from pre-trial detention, said on her Twitter account that she was being treated in a hospital after testing positive for the virus following her release.
Two others from the protest movement, including human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa and Chukiat Justin Saengowng, who remain in detention, have also tested positive for COVID-19.
Panusaya said she did not have any symptoms and had tested negative while in prison on April 22. After her release, she stayed home for three days before getting tested.