Around 1,700 illegal migrants heading to the United States are being held in a jungle camp by Panama authorities after several cases of the new coronavirus were detected among them, AFP reported.

They are being kept in La Penita, close to the Colombian border, in facilities designed to accommodate around 200 people.

“Seventeen migrants have been infected with the new coronavirus,” an official source said on condition of anonymity.

The infected people have already been removed from the camp.