GEORGE TOWN:All 320 Penang Remand Prison staff who have undergone the first COVID-19 screening since Oct 5 have been confirmed to be free of the virus.

Its director Mohamed Jusoh Ismail said the results of the screening found that all the prison staff were free of COVID-19 symptoms.

“All (320) of my staff are carrying out their duties as usual at the moment,” he told Bernama after receiving Phase 1 of the contribution of essential items for the Remand Prison by Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Penang, today.

The contributions from PKR Penang and Yayasan Foodbank in the form of 48,000 face masks, five litres of liquid sanitisers, 300 bars of bath soap, 300 toothpaste, 50 bottles of Clorox, 20 mattresses, 20 blankets, 20 pillows, 50 plastic chairs, five fans, 20 pairs of rubber shoes, 50 boxes of rubber gloves, five lazy chairs, mineral water and dried food were presented by state PKR chairman Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik.

Meanwhile, Mohamed Jusoh said the 2,306 inmates in the prison also extended good cooperation to the authorities and complied with standard operating procedures (SOP) to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“Currently there is no movement of prisoners either for physical activities or such. They (prisoners) follow the instructions given, especially with the current situation ... We only control them within the block by supplying face masks and soap,” he said.

He said today was the last day for the first screening for inmates since the death of a prisoner confirmed to have COVID-19 was reported on Monday (Oct 5) and the second screening would be carried out as soon as the first was completed.

Yesterday, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah informed that there were three more COVID-19 cases recorded involving the Remand Prison cluster bringing the total to 18 cases including the prisoner who died on Oct 5.

-- BERNAMA