NIBONG TEBAL: The Seberang Prai Prison in Jawi and the prison quarters have been placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) since early this morning.
Police have set up a checkpoint at the main entrance leading to the prison and nearby quarters.
The checkpoint was manned by several policemen and prison officials.
Several police vehicles were seen patrolling the area.
Several vehicles from the Sungai Bakap Hospital were also spotted entering and exiting the prison while the state Information Department four-wheel drive vehicle continued to relay messages via the loud speaker on the need to follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) during the EMCO period.
Yesterday, the Jawi Prison cluster logged another nine positive Covid-19 cases, all of whom were inmates, bringing the total number of cases to 95.
Only three involved prison officers while the rest were inmates.
Seberang Prai Prison director Zulkifli Abdul Manah said they had ordered some 120 prison staff, staying outside the quarters, to move into the quarters until the end of the EMCO on Nov 4.
"With the EMCO in place, no one is allowed to move in and out of the facilities, except with approvals.
"As such, we have asked all 120 prison staff staying outside the quarters to move in.
"They will be temporarily placed at the officers' mess and multipurpose hall," he told the New Straits Times.
Zulkifli said all necessary preparations have been made since the prison first reported active cases.
Asked if family members of the prison staff would be screened (for Covid-19), he said it would only be done upon advice from the Health Ministry.
Zulkifli also said that several inmates would be released from prison during the EMCO period.
"Everyday, we have inmates being released from prison. Just for those to be released on weekends, we do it on a Friday.
"They will be screened, and if their swab tests are negative, they will be sent to the quarantine centre first," he added.
Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced yesterday that the government had put the prison and quarters under lockdown beginning today until Nov 4.
The move would effect 3,262 individuals to prevent the movement of people in and out of the prison, thus allowing health authorities to carry out Covid-19 screening.
Those affected included 2,110 inmates, 1,129 prison staff and family members as well as 32 other government staff.
Detainees, scheduled to be released during the EMCO period, would first be isolated and quarantined at the Seberang Prai Selatan Mara Excellence Centre, as decided by the Penang Disaster Management Committee until the end of their 14-day quarantine period.
Meanwhile, Penang Remand Prison director Mohamed Jusoh Ismail said the two positive Covid-19 cases reported inside the prison also involved inmates.
He said Covid-19 test results involving prison staff and their family members have yet to be obtained.
Penang currently has two major Covid-19 clusters — the Penang Remand Prison cluster and the Jawi Prison cluster — making both prisons the third and fourth penal institutions in the country to record Covid-19 infections after Tawau in Sabah and Alor Star in Kedah.
The first active case was reported inside the Penang Remand Prison following the death of an 85-year-old inmate on Oct 5.
Since then, the number continued to rise.
The Penang Remand Prison and prison quarters have been placed under EMCO since last Thursday after the active cases among the inmates there continue to surge.
To date, the Remand Prison cluster has logged a total of 401 cases, all of which involved inmates.