There are currently over 500 detainees in Villawood Immigration Detention Centre. Now that COVID has entered, they are all at risk.
So far, 25 detainees have been diagnosed with the virus. It is fortunate that the Blaxland compound had been emptied, so that the sick men have been moved there, to minimise cross infection. None have needed to be admitted to hospitals, for which we can be thankful. The management of the Centre advise that patients get some hours of fresh air each day. There is support for their mental health.
In the rest of the Centre, Rapid Antigen Tests are available, social distancing and handwashing are required, and vaccines are available.
In other words, the staff are trying. But it would be better if the detainees had been released into the community. Indefinite detention is cruel, and the risk of death from COVID, or of long COVID, remains.