Thailand considers releasing 50,000 inmates as Covid-19 hit prisons

This handout from Thailand's Department of Corrections taken on May 9, 2021 and received on May 17, 2021 shows inmates who tested positive with the Covid-19 coronavirus being quarantined in a field hospital set up by the department in Bangkok, as the country continues to battle its latest surge in infections partly due to outbreaks in prisons. - AFP

BANGKOK, May 18 (Bloomberg): Thailand, already facing its worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic, is considering cutting its prison population by as much as 16% to counter the rapid spread of infections among inmates and workers in overcrowded facilities.

More than 10,000 new Covid-19 cases have been reported in about a dozen densely-packed Thai prisons.