GEORGE TOWN, Oct 18 — An officer at the Seberang Perai Prison in Jawi has tested positive for Covid-19, said Penang Prisons director Roslan Mohamed.

Without revealing the officer’s gender and age, Roslan said the patient was among 26 positive cases reported in the Jawi Prison Cluster yesterday and currently receiving treatment at Penang Hospital.

"This is the first case involving a prison officer after 53 inmates (in Seberang Perai Prison) tested positive for Covid-19. Upon receiving the officer’s result, the Health Ministry’s personnel conducted close contact screening and we are still waiting for the result.

"The prison is monitoring the situation closely and we have yet to identify the cause of infection for the officer,” he said when contacted today.

He added that all 53 inmates infected with Covid-19 were undergoing treatment in the prison and reported to be in stable condition.

Meanwhile, Roslan said all 160 new cases in the Penang Remand Prison reported yesterday involved only inmates and no officer was infected so far.

"There has been a spike in cases at the prison and we have tightened the standard operating procedure to tackle the situation. For the time being, the facilities at the treatment centre in the prison are adequate for all patients,” he said. — Bernama