PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry is in discussion with the Prisons Department to review its standard operating procedures (SOP) to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry was also reviewing the SOP at Immigration detention centres and district police headquarters lock-ups.
At a press conference yesterday, he said several factors could lead to the rapid spread of the virus in prisons and lock-ups.
He said the infection could start when inmates were brought out for case mention or when they stay overnight at places such as the district police headquarters.
"When they go back to the prison, not only are the inmates at risk, those who escort them could be infected too.
"The virus may also be brought in by prison staff or visitors. We're not very sure about this, but what is certain is that prisoners are a high-risk group as they are in a confined space."
He said one SOP being reviewed was the separation of new inmates from existing ones.
"New inmates will be tested and isolated for 14 days. Their results may be negative on the first test, but later positive on the 13th day, for example.
"As for visitation, we need to ensure visitors comply with the SOP. Prison staff must wear Personal Protective Equipment."
On the infectivity rate, or R naught (R0), in Sabah, Dr Noor Hisham said it had improved to 1.3 following the implementation of the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) in the state.
Other states showed progress as well, with Selangor at 1.4 and Kedah at 0.7.
"In Kedah, the R0 takes into account positive cases from prisons. If we exclude them, the number will probably be lower.
"Whatever that's being done in Kedah is exactly what we are going to do in Sabah.
"We are seeing benefits from isolating positive cases and close contacts, as well as vigorously conducting surveillance.
He said the country's R0, which was at 2.2 at the start of the third wave, was now at 1.2.
The ministry detected eight new Covid-19 clusters, with three in Sabah — Basung and Inai clusters in Kudat district and the Tempayan cluster in Kota Kinabalu and Penampang.
Dr Noor Hisham said the Basung cluster, with 19 cases, involved a fishing jetty in Kudat.
"The cluster was detected after targeted screening on those involved in fishery trading.
"For the Inai cluster, the index case, Case 17,773, was identified during symptomatic cases screenings on Oct 14."
He said the patient had been admitted to the PPR Taman Ehsan quarantine and low-risk centre in Kota Belud.
The Tempayan cluster had 19 cases up to noon yesterday, with 21 tests conducted.
The index case, Case 11,619, who is receiving treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, was identified during symptomatic cases screenings on Oct 1.
The index cases for four other clusters — Long, Cahaya, Bah Kota and Melati — were also identified during symptomatic cases screenings.
The Long cluster involves the Hulu Langat district in Selangor and Titiwangsa, Lembah Pantai, and Kepong districts in Kuala Lumpur. The Cahaya cluster was detected in Petaling, Selangor, and Tampin, Negri Sembilan.
The Bah Kota cluster was reported in Sepang, Selangor, and Seremban, Negri Sembilan.
The Melati cluster involves Titiwangsa, Kuala Lumpur and Klang, Selangor.
The Bina Labuan cluster in Labuan was detected during hospital pre-admission screening yesterday. The patient died on the same day at Labuan Hospital.
The number of new Covid-19 cases fell for the fourth day in a row, recording 732 up to noon yesterday.
Only eight were imported cases, involving arrivals from Singapore, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
Sabah had the most new cases, at 535 cases, or 73.1 per cent of the total. Selangor had 114 new local transmissions, with 11 infections linked to three new clusters.
Kuala Lumpur registered 20 cases, while Penang logged 12.
States that recorded single-digit cases are Negri Sembilan and Labuan (nine), Kedah and Perak (seven) and Putrajaya (six). Melaka had three cases, while Kelantan and Pahang had one each.
A total of 102 patients are warded in the Intensive Care Unit, with 31 needing ventilators.
Dr Noor Hisham said 580 more patients had been discharged, bringing the total number of recoveries to 14,931, or 65 per cent.
He said six more fatalities were recorded — five in Sabah and one in Labuan. This increased the total death toll to 199.