BINTULU, Feb 9 — Some 700 people including prison wardens and their families, and inmates of Bintulu Prison have been quarantined for 14 days after one of the wardens tested positive for Covid-19, Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said.

"The prison has been subjected to a lockdown order, to enable active case detection (ACD) to be carried out,” he said in a statement.

Tiong disclosed that some prison wardens and prisoners have been quarantined in the prison, while others and their families have been isolated at Stadium Muhibah. He said they will all be screened for Covid-19.

He said the Bintulu Disaster Management Committee and Bintulu Health Office were closely monitoring the pandemic situation in the division.

"Therefore, the enforcement and strict control is inevitable, we will not take the cases lightly in the fight against the spread of this pandemic, to reduce the level of infections,” he said.

Tiong hoped those who were ordered to be quarantined would be more understanding of the situation.

He said there was no intention to make it difficult for anyone including the prison wardens involved.

Tiong said the extent of the transmission has yet to be known for the time being thus the key to curb the spread of the virus was to be extra vigilant.

"I hope all parties will give full cooperation so that our fight against this pandemic can be done more effectively,” he said. — Borneo Post