PUTRAJAYA, June 2 — The Health Ministry (MOH) will carry out the Covid-19 screenings on more than 800 inmates and 700 employees from the Sungai Buloh Prison after a non-citizen prisoner tested positive for Covid-19, said Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
He said the inmate was detained in the Sungai Buloh Prison since 2016 as an undocumented immigrant. In late May he was ordered to be sent to the Semenyih Immigration detention centre.
The Covid-19 test conducted on May 31 found the inmate tested positive for the virus.
"The Gombak district health office (PKD) will carry out screening on the inmate’s close contacts as well as prison staff.
"Hence, this is our process in the event of any individual tested positive with Covid-19, that we will immediately carry out contact tracing to detect those who have been exposed to the prisoner," he told a daily press conference here yesterday.
The inmate is currently being treated at the Covid-19 Low-Risk Patient Quarantine and Treatment Centre at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (Maeps).
Commenting on the tahfiz student in Batu Gajah, Perak who tested positive for Covid-19, Dr Noor Hisham said 41 people, including immediate family members and close contacts, had been screened and undergoing a 14-day quarantine at a public institution in Sungkai.
"All of them tested negative and now undergoing quarantine, while the tahfiz student is currently hospitalised and also quarantined for 14 days," he said.
— Bernama
