By Ling Hui
KUCHING, July 3: The Semuja Immigration Detention Depot has reported another Covid-19 cluster involving detainees for the second time since its first cluster with 441 positive cases emerged in April.
This time, the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) said the cluster started with six detainees from Pakistan who tested positive when screened at a private health facility before they were to be sent back to their original country on July 1.
On the same day, the first screening of admission and placement into the detention depot along with close contact detection among other detainees found additional 59 positive cases.
SDMC said most of the detainees were from Indonesia, Bangladesh, India and Myanmar, and they had served their prison sentences at the Sri Aman Prison and Sibu Central Prison.
“These detainees also underwent the second screening for Covid-19 from related prisons and their results were negative as they were sent to the Semuja Immigration Depot for their placements before returning home.
“All detainees were placed in an isolated detention block for the Covid-19 screening for two times and quarantined for 14 days before entering the main detention block,” it said in a statement on Covid-19 update today.
The committee said a total of 76 detainees were swabbed where 71 were found positive for the virus and another four of them were negative from their first swab tests.
It also assured that all positive individuals were placed in the Low-risk Treatment and Quarantine Centre (PKRC) set up at the immigration depot for isolation and treatment purposes.
Meanwhile, SDMC said further investigations and close contact detection are still being carried out. — DayakDaily
