GEORGE TOWN, Oct 8 — The roads around the Penang remand prison remain open to traffic as usual and have not been closed nor are they under lockdown as speculated, the police said today.

Northeast district police chief Asst Comm Soffian Santong said a message spread on social media claiming the roads around the prison were closed due to a Covid-19 fatality involving a prison inmate recently was not true.

"We have not received any instructions to close the roads in the area,” he said when contacted.

He appealed to the public to stop spreading the fake message.

He said the roads are still open and the traffic conditions in the area are normal.

Yesterday, Health director-general Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah named a new cluster at the Penang remand prison where an 85-year-old inmate died of Covid-19 on October 5.

As of yesterday, six others in the cluster have tested positive for Covid-19 out of 286 tested.

Testing is still being conducted on all inmates and prison staff while those who have been in close contact with the index case have been quarantined and isolated.