GEORGE TOWN – Penang today proposed the implementation of the enhanced movement control order (EMCO) at the remand prison and staff quarters after 141 new Covid-19 cases were announced.
Chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said the matter was decided at a state-level meeting after receiving information from the state Health Department and the Penang National Security Council.
“We have been informed that the new cases are mostly detainees at the remand prison.
“All detainees, staff and officers at the remand prison have been tested. In fact, the second round of tests has started today,” he said at a press conference in Komtar today.
The remand prison currently houses 2,306 prisoners, and its quarters are home to 318 staff members and their families.
The prison cluster first started on October 5, and with today’s cases, it has a total of 160 infections.
Meanwhile, state Health Director Dr Asmayani Khalib said all Covid-19 patients involving detainees have been placed in low-risk treatment centres in prisons.
Those critical, she added, are being treated at the Penang General Hospital.
“Until now, all health safety equipment such as personal protective equipment for frontliners is sufficient.
“We are mobilising medical officers from hospitals around the state to help treat patients from the prison cluster.”
Later, the federal Prisons Department in a statement said EMCO is effective today at the remand prison. Its end date has yet to be confirmed. – The Vibes, October 12, 2020
