Woman Held at Yarl’s Wood IRC Tests Positive For Coronavirus

The Home Office confirmed the diagnosis on Sunday 22/03/2020, and said the woman had been placed in isolation at the Bedfordshire facility after showing symptoms. No other staff or detainees have tested positive for Covid-19, the Home Office added. The charity Women For Refugee Women said many of the detainees inside the facility had underlying health conditions, which could put them more at risk if they are infected. “The Home Office is putting already vulnerable women at risk through its chaotic and inhumane system of detention,” the charity’s director Natasha Walter said. It is time to close the detention centre, and ensure that every individual receives the support they need to protect themselves and others during this pandemic.”

Yarl’s Wood IRC, which is located near Milton Ernest, north of Bedford, houses women and adult family groups awaiting immigration clearance. One woman, who has been in the centre for more than a fortnight, said: “Now they are taking precautions, but they were taking no precautions until yesterday. So right now everyone is panicking. We know there is a pandemic going on and here we are not being given the means to protect ourselves.”

Detainees arriving at immigration removal centres are medically assessed by a nurse within two hours of their arrival and a doctor within 24 hours, the Home Office said.

Read more: Shropshire Star, https://is.gd/60nIje