KUANTAN, Dec 30 — All staff of the Bentong Prison and their family members are to be quarantined until the Covid-19 screening process is done with.

This is after health authorities identified the Tembok Mempaga cluster yesterday, the Pahang disaster management committee said in a statement today, adding that the move was necessary to ensure there are no transmissions within the local community.

"The Bentong district disaster management committee will ensure that the welfare and the daily needs of prison staff and their family are taken care of,” the statement said.

Transmission risk is low for now as the cluster only involved detainees, the statement said.

It also said that many prisons in the Peninsula were unable to take in detainees as the moment as they were located in areas under the enhanced movement control order.

As such, those in the Klang Valley, including Petaling Jaya in Selangor, a red zone, had to be sent to transit centres for detainees or the Bentong Prison, the statement read.

Yesterday, Pahang recorded 288 positive cases, of which 282 cases were infections among close contacts of a new detainee transferred to the Bentong prison. — Bernama