SOP in prisons to be reviewed

We can see a spike in numbers for cases in jails, says Health DG

PETALING JAYA: There is a need to review the standard operating procedure (SOP) practised in prisons, which contributed towards the large number of Covid-19 infections after Sabah, says Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The Health director-general said yesterday that the prisons clusters, namely Tembok, Penjara Reman and Seberang Perai, have contributed a total of 224 cases or 25.8% of the day’s total cases.

“Comparatively, for Sabah, although recording the highest cases in the country for today at 451, the trend has been rather steady in the past three days with no apparent spike in figures.

“In fact, the numbers today came down from 489 on Friday.

“We can see a spike in numbers for cases in jails in the peninsula.

“That is why there is a need for us to review the SOP there,” he said at his daily Covid-19 briefing yesterday.

Dr Noor Hisham said mass screenings need to be conducted not only in jails but also at depots and lockups at all district police headquarters.

“The inmates also need to be protected and one of the methods is to conduct mass screening.

“We have discussed this with the Prisons Department and various public health activities would be rolled out in jails soon,” he said.

Yesterday, Malaysia recorded yet another record high of 869 new Covid-19 infections, with five new clusters and four deaths, bringing the total death toll to 180.

The four deaths were all Malaysians in Sabah, involving three men aged 53, 78 and 88 and a 71-year-old woman.

Sabah recorded 451 cases, followed by Penang (189), Selangor (159), Kedah (38), four each in Perak and Sarawak, Terengganu (three), two each in Johor and Putrajaya, and one each in Negri Sembilan and Melaka.

All of the cases yesterday were local transmissions, involving 745 Malaysians and 124 foreigners. Four of them were returnees from Sabah.

Dr Noor Hisham noted the five new clusters: Teduh (Sabah), Menara (Klang Valley and Perak), Keladi (Klang), Sentral (Kuala Lumpur) and Bah Bemban (Terengganu and Kota Kinabalu).

There are so far 81 active clusters and 31 of them reported new cases in the past 24 hours.