Penang to propose EMCO be implemented for Remand Prison, staff quarters

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said this following the announcement by the Ministry of Health (MOH) that the Remand Prison Cluster in Penang recorded 141 new COVID-19 cases today, with all involving the inmates.

“The EMCO, if implemented, will involve 2,306 inmates in the remand prison and 318 prisons staff and their families living in the quarters,” he told reporters yesterday.

He said the proposal would be forwarded to the National Security Council (MKN) by the Penang MKN.

Earlier, Chow chaired an emergency meeting that was also attended by Penang Health director Dr Asmayani Khalid and Penang Prisons Department director Roslan Mohamed.

Chow said all the inmates of the remand prison had undergone screening, including the prisons staff, while a second screening has also begun.

Meanwhile, Dr Asmayani said the state Health Department had set up a low-risk treatment centre within the prison to treat COVID-19 positive cases while stage three positive cases would still be referred to the Penang Hospital.

She added that, so far, they had sufficient Health Department staff, who are being assisted by other health clinic and hospital workers.

Earlier, the Prisons Department said in a statement that the Penang Remand Prison had enforced COVID-19 preventive measures through the administrative EMCO effective from today until further notice.

Since Oct 5, the Penang Remand Prison Cluster has recorded 160 positive cases, all involving inmates.

Meanwhile, Penang Remand Prison director Mohamed Jusoh Ismail, when contacted, said about 20 prisons staff who were close contacts of COVID-19 positive inmates had undergone a second screening today after their first test came back negative.

He said the prisons staff, in collaboration with the MOH team, are continuously carrying out the sanitation process.