GEORGE TOWN: A Covid-19 patient who cut his pink wristband and fled from the Penang Hospital yesterday will be hauled up by the police after he completes his treatment.
Northeast district police chief Assistant Commissioner Soffian Santong said police will wait until the man recovers before they question him.
He said the man was handed over to the Penang Hospital as soon as he was arrested last night.
"He will be investigated for fleeing while receiving treatment.
"We are investigating him under Section 269 of the Penal Code and Section 22(b) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988," he said.
It was reported that the 23-year-old Covid-19 patient, who cut his pink wristband and fled from the Penang Hospital yesterday afternoon, was found several hours later.
The man was found at a row of shophouses in Bayan Lepas about 9pm.
He was then escorted by several health workers in full personal protective gear back to the hospital in an ambulance.
It is learnt that the man had walked a distance of 25km from the hospital to Bayan Lepas.