Regional Center for Border Health evaluating up to 100 migrants per day

SOMERTON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Yuma Sector Border Patrol is reporting more than 600 migrants being processed every day. The team over at the Regional Center for Border Health is continuing to assist the sector by taking in busloads of asylum seekers.

Since February, per day, between 50-100 migrants get dropped off here at Regional Center. They’re evaluated, tested for COVID-19, and offered a vaccine.

The center says it has seen many Cubans and Brazilians.

“Then a few from European countries in Asia, and also some from Afghanistan, Romania, we saw Russians,” said Amanda Aguirre, president & CEO.

Most are coming in family units.

“Were seeing a lot of family members with kids, moms and dads, single moms, pregnant women, many individually with no family,” Aguirre added.

COVID negative migrants are only at Regional Center for an hour or so.

“travel arrangements are being made for them to go through either the airport, as we know that they're ready to fly to the final destination with their sponsors or their families, and or they go to a shelter and we work with three different shelters,” Aguirre explained.

If they do test positive they're quarantined at the center until they test negative.

“We provide housing shelter for them. We provide medication, medical consultation, food every day they get tested, until a negative, and then they can travel,” she added.

Regional Center says 10% of the migrants they test are covid positive.

The center has a lab that analyzes every positive COVID test to check if variants from other countries have made their way to Yuma County.

“They have been helping us identify any variants of COVID-19. In particular, because we were concerned with the migrants coming from different countries, whether there will be any different variants come in and do in our country.”

The president and CEO says they must assist during this humanitarian crisis, especially knowing the dangers of the border.