GEORGE TOWN, Oct 14 — All inmates at Seberang Perai Prison in Jawi, near here, will undergo Covid-19 screening to curb the spread of the viral infection after three inmates were confirmed positive yesterday.
Penang Prisons director Roslan Mohamed said although the three men were placed in separate blocks with about 2,000 existing inmates, they took immediate steps to ensure that those infected received early treatment.
“Apart from the existing inmates, all the new inmates brought to Seberang Perai Prison will also undergo preliminary screening for Covid-19 while the prison staff will adhere to the strict standard operating procedure (SOP) in the handling of prisoners.
“Even the new prisoners are segregated and placed for 14 days in separate blocks from the prisoners who are already here. Then if they are found to be negative, they are transferred to the same block cells with the existing prisoners,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
He said the Covid-19 screening conducted by the Health Ministry (MOH) staff involving existing inmates in the prison might take several days.
Roslan said over the past three days until yesterday, about 200 new inmates and prison staff had undergone the Covid-19 screening test and so far, no staff were confirmed positive.
He said the three Covid-19-positive prisoners were currently housed in a transit block away from other blocks and were receiving treatment from MOH staff there, while 15 other prisoners who were in the same cell as them had also been quarantined.
“The transit block had been unoccupied for a long time and the prisoners who tested positive for Covid-19 were placed there for treatment. They are in stable condition and the situation in the prison is also under control,” he said.
Yesterday, director-general of Health, Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah announced that there was a new cluster, the Jawi Prison cluster after three prisoners there were found to be Covid-19-positive.
On the implementation of the targeted enhanced movement control order (TEMCO) at the Penang Remand Prison which started at 12 midnight yesterday, Roslan said the prison was fully prepared and did not rule out the possibility that family members of the prison staff there would also undergo Covid-19 screening.
“We are waiting for further instructions from the MOH,” he said.
Roslan said that until yesterday, 177 prisoners in the Penang Remand Prison who were confirmed positive for Covid-19 had received treatment and reported to be in stable condition.
Since October 5, the Penang Remand Prison cluster has recorded 178 positive cases involving only prisoners, including an 85-year-old who died.
— Bernama
