MELAKA – The Melaka government is considering implementing the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) at the Jasin Correctional Centre following a sudden spike in Covid-19 transmissions involving inmates and detainees.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali said the order would enable close-contact screening and centralised contact quarantine to be carried out, as well as for control and prevention measures to curb the virus from spreading to prison personnel and the community.
"I would like to clarify the increase in Covid-19 cases is confined to the Jasin Correctional Centre; there is no transmission in the community and the situation is under control," he said in a statement today.
Sulaiman said investigations revealed that the cause of the Covid-19 transmissions at the correctional facility was traced to inmates and new detainees from the Kajang and Sg Buloh Prisons linked to the Jalan Harapan prison cluster due to overcrowding.
He said Melaka recorded a surge in Covid-19 cases from December 12 to yesterday, wherein the cumulative number of individuals confirmed positive stands at 551, detected from a targeted screening exercise conducted among the facility’s new inmates and detainees.
Currently, the Jasin Correctional Centre serves as a transit facility, he said, adding that 880 new inmates and detainees were received between November 22 and December 16, with all of them undergoing Covid-19 screening.
For information and enquiries, the public can contact the Melaka Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) at 06-2356999/6581 or email [email protected]. – Bernama, December 18, 2020
