Penang remand prison, staff quarters to be placed under EMCO from Thursday

KUALA LUMPUR: The Penang Remand Prison and its staff quarters will be placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) from Thursday (Oct 15), said Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said the decision was made on the advice of the Ministry of Health (MOH) and taking into consideration the spike in new COVID-19 positive cases involving the prison cluster.

The implementation of the CMCO, he said, would allow it to control movements in and out of the area as well as facilitate COVID-19 screenings.

"The EMCO will involve a total of 2,830 individuals, comprising 2,306 inmates, 304 prison staff and their families living in the quarters as well as 220 other prison staff and their families who do not live there,” he said at a press conference from his home that was streamed live via the Defence Ministry's Facebook page today.

Ismail Sabri said that following the implementation of the EMCO, no movement in and out of the area would be permitted, while movement among prison staff would be determined based on the standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the Prisons Department.

-- BERNAMA