Sungai Buloh prison staff, inmates to be screened after 1 positive case

The 700 personnel and 800 inmates at the Sungai Buloh prison will be tested for Covid-19 after one prisoner tested positive.

PUTRAJAYA: The 700 staff members and 800 prisoners at the Sungai Buloh prison in Selangor will be screened for Covid-19 after a former inmate tested positive for the virus.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the patient is a 60-year-old male Canadian citizen of Sri Lankan ancestry.

He said the man had been detained in the Sungai Buloh prison as an illegal immigrant since 2016, before being transferred to the Semenyih depot upon sentencing in late March.

“Aside from close contacts, the Gombak district health office will be screening 700 prison staff and 800 inmates at the prison,” he said at his daily press conference here today.

The patient tested positive yesterday and has since been moved to the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) for isolation and treatment.

Noor Hisham said the man had been placed in Block B of the prison and shared a cell with eight to 10 other prisoners.

“The health team from Selangor will do the investigation and contact tracing at the prison,” he later told FMT.

He said the nation now faced a challenge of an increase in Covid-19 cases among migrants, as local transmissions involving Malaysians had reduced steadily.

He urged Malaysians not to alienate or stigmatise migrants but to help them instead to break the Covid-19 chain of infection.

“While the interaction between Malaysians and foreigners is limited, their presence here, especially migrant workers, has helped in strengthening our country’s economy.

“So it is appropriate that we identify and find a way to resolve the Covid-19 infections among them,” he said.

Noor Hisham called on embassies to work with Putrajaya to keep their countrymen informed of the situation and the SOPs they needed to comply with.

He also said employers should be responsible in educating migrant workers on best hygiene practices and to ensure their living quarters adhered to the SOPs.

“We urge all parties to cooperate to ensure the daily Covid-19 cases do not increase, whether among Malaysians or non-Malaysians,” he said. - FMT