EXPOSURE to Covid-19-positive persons who were also under detention at the Bukit Jalil Immigration Centre caused the new infections of 270 detainees, said director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

He added that the new cases were discovered after second samples were taken from detainees at the centre.

The cases accounted for the bulk of the 277 new infections reported in the country in the past 24 hours – the biggest number of daily infections in Malaysia so far.

“They were exposed to previous positive cases,” he said, while adding the detainees were quarantined at the Immigration detention centre.

Noor Hisham also said that this could have possibly been a result of an “amplification” of the infection in confined and crowded cells.

“At the moment we can only say it may be related to confined spaces and congested, crowded areas,” he added. 

He also said it is also possible that one or two infected detainees may have slipped through screening as the virus was still in its incubation period.

“We are not only worried about Immigration detention centres, we are also worried about prisons. So far we do not have any cases reported in prison, for example, in Sg Buloh. 

“So we are keeping an eye on cases that have been admitted, perhaps we need to screen them before they are admitted (into detention centres). 

“Perhaps this is why it is important that we need to relook the protocol before we admit an inmate to a detention centre, whereby it involves many inmates as that could amplify the infection,” he added. 

Noor Hisham said a proposal on the matter has been presented to the National Security Council on a potential action plan.  

He added that a holistic approach is also needed to address the issues faced by legal foreign workers in the country. – June 4, 2020.