PENANG will not request Putrajaya for border closure as yet even though Covid-19 cases in neighbouring state, Kedah, are on the rise recently, says Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
He explained that the threshold (number of cases) to trigger a targeted enhanced movement control order (TEMCO) has not been reached yet.
“There is a protocol for TEMCO to be declared and we’ve not reached this threshold.
“The State Security Council will be monitoring the situation and if TEMCO is required to be declared, they will brief me for me to make the request,” Chow said in response to a question by a reporter on the surge of cases in Kedah at a press conference held in Komtar today.
He said he held a special meeting with the chiefs of the Penang Prisons Department, state Health Department, Security Council and the Penang police yesterday.
Chow said all these frontliners would be on standby for any eventuality while swab tests are being conducted for all the Prison officers and inmates.
An alarm was raised when seven inmates from the Penang Prisons were tested positive for Covid-19. One of them, an 85-year-old man, was found unconscious by a prison warden and then taken to the Penang Hospital’s Emergency Department on Monday. He was found to have Covid-19 after his death.
“All agencies are in ready mode to take any action that is necessary if more cases are recorded after the swab tests.
“At this moment it is to contain the problem so that it will not affect other inmates, officers and workers in the remand prison.
“We will be briefed on any sudden change of circumstances and take drastic actions if required,” Chow said.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis
Video by Law Suun Ting