Tapah prison to go under lockdown again

 

The Tapah prison and its staff quarters were previously under EMCO in November last year.

PETALING JAYA: The Tapah prison and its staff quarters in Perak will be placed under enhanced movement control order (EMCO) from Feb 16 to March 1.

Senior minister for security Ismail Sabri Yaakob said this follows a surge in Covid-19 cases recently, with 55 infections reported so far.

This is the second time that the Tapah Prison and its staff quarters have been placed under the EMCO, with the first time being from Oct 23 to Nov 4 last year.

It was also announced that the EMCO at the Sungai Udang prison in Melaka will be extended due to a surge in positive cases. To date, 1,234 have been tested, of which 331 were found to be positive.

The health ministry has confirmed that the spread of Covid-19 was still occurring among detainees, with 21 screening samples awaiting results.

Meanwhile, the EMCO at Kampung Sungai Ud, Dalat, Sarawak and Felda Bersia in Hulu Perak will end tomorrow as scheduled.

On the daily offences, Ismail said 1,111 people were arrested by the police yesterday over movement control order-related offences.

In a statement, Ismail said 1,040 of them were issued compound fines and 71 remanded.

He said most of the offences were crossing districts or states without permission (306).

Among the other offences were participating in activities which made physical distancing difficult, failing to wear a face mask, activities at entertainment centres, and failing to provide materials for contact tracing or registration.

A total of 2,978 compliance task force teams were deployed to conduct checks on supermarkets, restaurants, hawker stalls, factories, and banks, among others.

Ismail also said police caught 22 illegal immigrants and seized six vehicles under Op Benteng.

He added that 494 people had arrived through KLIA from July 24 to Feb 15 from various countries.

A total of 573 people were sent to hospital for treatment, while 114,981 were allowed to return home and 5,803 people are currently undergoing mandatory quarantine. - FMT