THE Penang Prison Department is committed to prevent a surge of Covid-19 cases among detainees and staff members in its facilities.
Penang Prison director Roslan Mohamed said the department has implemented several strict and additional measures in both of its prisons, namely Penang Remand Prison and Seberang Perai Prison, to curb the spread of the virus.
“One of them is that we have set up a low-risk Covid-19 centre (LRCC) at both prisons since last year following a swell in Covid-19 cases during that time.
“Inmates who contracted the virus at Stage 1 and Stage 2 will be placed here and treated by the staff from the state Health Department while those on higher stage (critical) will be sent to the hospital.
“Rest assured, we always follow the current standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the Health Ministry, including to treat, quarantine and curb the spread of the virus among our staff and inmates,” said Roslan during an interview with Buletin Mutiara at his office in George Town recently.
According to Roslan, the department also has strengthened the SOPs in prisons.
“We have made it mandatory for every inmate to wear face mask at all times because it is hard to practise physical distancing in prison due to the limited space. So, that’s why we make it mandatory for them.
“For our prison personnel, they must wear face shields or personal protective equipment (PPE) when dealing with detainees face-to-face or conducting a thorough check on them.
“As an additional precaution, all frequently touched surfaces in both prisons are cleaned and disinfected regularly (twice a week) by our staff to minimise the risk of infection,” he added.
Apart from that, Roslan said the state Prison Department has turned a National Service Training Programme (PLKN) camp in Bukit Mertajam into a transit centre to conduct Covid-19 screening test for all detainees.
“All of them will be screened here and stay for 10 days as required by the Health Ministry before we send them to prison.
“If one of them is Covid-19 positive, depending on the stages, for Stage 1 and 2 we will send them to the LRCC in the prisons. But for those on higher stage, they will be sent to the hospital first,” he said.
Roslan added that the Prison Department is also very strict when receiving inmates from other states.
“We have to ensure that the inmates have gone through a strict screening process in their respective state prison to ensure they are free from Covid-19 before we allow them to be transferred to Penang.
“If we are unclear about their status, then we will block the transfer. After all, prevention is better than cure,” he said.
Roslan also would like to express his utmost gratitude and appreciation to the Penang government, state agencies, private sectors, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and good Samaritans who lend a helping hand by providing face masks, hand sanitisers, gloves and many others when there was a jump in Covid-19 cases in both prisons last year.
“Without their help, it will be tough for us to flatten the curve of Covid-19 in both prisons. Thus, I would like to thank all of them,” he added.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Muhamad Amir Irsyad Omar