Thalang Police Station received a notification from Thalang Hospital staff today (Sept 18) that a male prisoner receiving treatment for COVID-19 at the hospital had died at 12:15pm.
The deceased was a 24-year-old Sahaschai Ketmuang, who was previously a resident of Baan Bang Duk, Mai Khao. His body has been released to his family for funeral rites, police confirmed.
The death of Mr Sahaschai follows the death of a 38-year-old male prisoner whose death was confirmed by provincial officials yesterday.
Provincial officials yesterday confirmed only that the 38-year-old man, designated as Case 7942, had died on Thursday (Sept 16). He was already suffering high blood pressure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and had been vaccinated with two injections of the Sinovac vaccine.
However, it was later revealed by sources that the 38-year-old, now identified as Anulak Yuenburi, originally from Phetchaburi province, was an inmate infected while incarcerated at Phuket Provincial Prison.
He was brought to Thalang Hospital after being confirmed infected during mass testing at the prison. He died at Thalang Hospital at around 5am on Thursday. His body was taken to Wat Phra Thong for cremation that same day.
The death certificates for both Mr Anulak and Mr Sahaschai note, "Lungs infected with the COVID-19 virus".
The two deaths follow Phuket health officials reporting that mass testing ‘proactive screening’ of inmates at the prison by using antigen test kits (ATKs) had been conducted on Sept 4, and that 199 inmates had tested positive.
It was not reported what action was taken by health officials on learning that so many inmates had tested positive for the virus.
Meanwhile, Rewat Areerob, President of the Phuket Provincial Administration Organisation (PPAO, or OrBorJor), arrived at the prison yesterday to donate 1,000 ATKs to Phuket Provincial Prison Commissioner Suchart Silapachai for further testing of inmates to be conducted.
Also handed over were four boxes of alcohol-based hand sanitiser, along with staff to assist prison officers in testing inmates at the prison.