n this photo released by the Department of Corrections, an empty room is seen at COVID-19 prisoner field hospital set up at the Medical Correctional Institution to treat COVID-19 inmates, in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 8. (AP Photo)
BANGKOK--Nearly 3,000 inmates at two prisons in Thailand’s capital have tested positive for COVID-19, the Corrections Department said Wednesday, as the country battles a new wave of the coronavirus.
The department said 1,785 of the 3,274 inmates tested positive at Bangkok Special Prison, which holds detainees ahead of trial. At the Central Women’s Correctional Institution, 1,040 of the 4,475 inmates were infected, it said.
The Corrections Department announced the infections after a prominent political activist released on bail last week announced Wednesday that she had tested positive for the virus. Panusaya “Rung” Sitthijirawattanakul and fellow members of a student-led pro-democracy movement are awaiting trial on charges of defaming the monarchy, or lese majeste, which is punishable by up to 15 years’ imprisonment.