Prisons In Focus As Another Inmate Tests Positive

Staff and inmates at Pik Uk Prison are to be tested for coronavirus after a prisoner who worked in a department handling laundry for the Hospital Authority tested positive for the coronavirus.

The 22-year-old Thai man tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday after he was transferred to Castle Peak Bay Immigration Centre for repatriation after completing an eight-week prison term.

The case was revealed hours after it emerged that staff and inmates of Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre and Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre would be tested following the news that a 54-year-old man who'd spent time at both institutions had tested preliminary positive.

The Thai man also spent time in Lai Chi Kok after he was sentenced on July 31. While there, officials say he was placed in isolation and showed no symptoms of the coronavirus.

He was transferred to Pik Uk on August 22 and assigned to work in the laundry complex, which handles items from hospitals including clothing, sheets and blankets from patients.

The Correctional Services Department said it regularly invited Hospital Authority staff to inspect the laundry complex and gave inmates working there suitable protective clothing.

It said the complex had been closed for cleaning and disinfection. Staff and inmates who had come into close contact with the patient are to be tested, although none have shown symptoms so far.

Castle Peak Bay is testing all new arrivals for the coronavirus. Mass testing was carried out at the immigration detention centre last month after another inmate, also a Thai national, tested positive for Covid-19.