GEORGE TOWN, Oct 12 — The Penang government is proposing for an enhanced movement control order (EMCO) to be implemented for the Penang Remand Prison and the prison staff quarters following 141 inmates being tested positive for Covid-19.

Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state security council, consisting of various agencies including the state health department, police and prisons department, held a meeting to discuss this earlier today.

"The proposed EMCO will involve a total 2,306 inmates in the remand prison and 318 prisons department staff and families at the prison staff quarters,” he said in a press conference at his office today.

He said the state health department confirmed that 141 Covid-19 cases only involved the inmates and not the prisons department staff or their families.

"All of the prison inmates have undergone full testing including the prisons staff but second swab tests will be held from today onwards,” he said.

Chow said the state can only propose the implementation of EMCO to the national security council (NSC) for consideration.

"The Penang national security council director Nazrul Fazami Mohamad will present this proposal to the NSC for consideration in a meeting tomorrow,” he said, adding that the ultimate decision lies with the federal government.

Chow said the police are well prepared to enforce EMCO for the remand prison and the quarters nearby if the NSC agrees to the state’s proposal.

"The state secretary will hold meetings at state and district level to mobilise relevant agencies to support the enforcement of EMCO if the NSC agrees to our proposal,” he said.

He added that the Penang Prisons Department director Roslan Mohamed had already announced that administratively, the remand prison will ensure that strict SOPs are complied with.

"The state health department has already converted facilities within the prison into a low risk Covid-19 centre for positive cases to be isolated and treated while those with negative results will be isolated from those still awaiting results,” he said.

Chow said the full extent of the spread of the disease in the remand prison will only be fully known over the next two to three days after the results of the second tests are out.

Earlier, Health Director-General Tan Sri Noor Hisham Abdullah announced a total 563 new Covid-19 cases today in which 291 are in Sabah, 141 in Penang, 69 in Selangor, 27 in Kuala Lumpur, 12 in Negri Sembilan, 10 in Kedah, four in Perak, two in Johor, two in Putrajaya, two in Labuan, one in Sarawak and one in Malacca.

All of the 141 new cases in Penang are the Remand Prison Cluster.