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Thursday 6 May 2021

Migrant intake center which opened a week ago in Long Beach Convention Center places 67 children in isolation after 47 of them test positive for COVID-19

 An emergency migrant intake center that was newly opened in Long Beach Convention Center has placed 67 children in isolation after 47 of them tested positive for COVID-19, it has been revealed.

The intake center opened just over a week ago and has the capacity to hold about 1,000 children. 

It was already housing 710 migrant children as of Wednesday, KABC-TV reported.

Zhan Caplan of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which operates the site, told the outlet that siblings among the 67 children placed in isolation are being kept together.

'The cases are either all asymptomatic or very mild symptoms,' Caplan said.

'The children are getting excellent care from UCLA Health, our medical provider.'

An emergency migrant intake center that was newly opened in Long Beach Convention Center has placed 67 children in isolation after 47 of them tested positive for COVID-19

An emergency migrant intake center that was newly opened in Long Beach Convention Center has placed 67 children in isolation after 47 of them tested positive for COVID-19

People are seen inside the Pomona Fairplex, which is being used as temporary housing for an influx of migrant children

People are seen inside the Pomona Fairplex, which is being used as temporary housing for an influx of migrant children

There were 216 children housed at the Pomona Fairplex site as of Wednesday and 14 of them have tested positive for the coronavirus

There were 216 children housed at the Pomona Fairplex site as of Wednesday and 14 of them have tested positive for the coronavirus

People are seen at a migrant intake center set up at the Pomona Fairplex in California

People are seen at a migrant intake center set up at the Pomona Fairplex in California

California center prepares for first influx of migrant kids
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The agency also operates another facility at the Pomona Fairplex, about 30 miles from the Convention Center, where another 14 children have tested positive for the coronavirus, the outlet reported.

There were 216 children housed at the Pomona Fairplex site as of Wednesday - just days after it started welcoming migrant children on Saturday, Bonnie Preston of the HHS told the outlet. That site can hold as many as 2,500 children.

'We have a team of infectious disease experts from the [CDC] on site who are working with program leads to implement CDC COVID-19 protocols as the site gears up and the census grows,' Preston said. 

Preston told KABC-TV that most cases of COVID-19 at the Pomona Fairplex and other HHS intake centers are children 'who arrived with the virus, testing positive when they left the custody of the Border Patrol.'  


It was not immediately clear if the children had arrived in the United States with the coronavirus or were infected while in Border Patrol custody before arriving in HHS custody. DailyMail.com has reached out to the HHS for clarification. 

According to KABC-TV, the children were transported to the intake centers in separate vehicles after arriving at the border.

'Once here they remain separate from the other children,' she said.

The two facilities are among a number of emergency intake centers set up by the Biden administration in a response to the border crisis. San Diego has also offered the use of its convention center as a temporary shelter, the outlet reported.

U.S. Border Patrol agents process immigrant families after they crossed the Rio Grande into south Texas on April 30

U.S. Border Patrol agents process immigrant families after they crossed the Rio Grande into south Texas on April 30

Asylum seekers wait to enter the United States on April 30 in San Luis, Arizona

Asylum seekers wait to enter the United States on April 30 in San Luis, Arizona

A Texas National Guard soldier instructs immigrants to follow behind a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle near the bank of the Rio Grande on April 29, 2021 in Roma, Texas

A Texas National Guard soldier instructs immigrants to follow behind a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle near the bank of the Rio Grande on April 29, 2021 in Roma, Texas

A Honduran boy, 5, peers at a U.S. National Guard soldier after he crossed the Rio Grande with his mother on April 30, 2021 in Roma, Texas

A Honduran boy, 5, peers at a U.S. National Guard soldier after he crossed the Rio Grande with his mother on April 30, 2021 in Roma, Texas


According to a press release from the HHS, the Long Beach facility received about 150 children when it opened to provide shelter for girls 17 years of age and younger, as well as boys under 12 years of age.

'Providing unaccompanied children a safe, healthy place is both our legal and moral obligation,' said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. 

'In the past month, we've made great strides expanding our capacity to meet those obligations while we work to safely and swiftly unify children with a family member or responsible sponsor. 

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