355 Covid-19 cases at immigration detention depots
CORONAVIRUS | A total of 355 positive Covid-19 cases have been recorded at three immigration detention depots in Bukit Jalil, Semenyih and Sepang to date.
According to Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, 305 were detected at the Bukit Jalil depot while the Semenyih centre recorded 45 and Sepang recorded four as of May 27.
CORONAVIRUS | A total of 355 positive Covid-19 cases have been recorded at three immigration detention depots in Bukit Jalil, Semenyih and Sepang to date.
According to Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, 305 were detected at the Bukit Jalil depot while the Semenyih centre recorded 45 and Sepang recorded four as of May 27.
One positive case was detected among staff members at the Semenyih depot.
This was based on results of swab tests conducted on 4,399 undocumented migrants housed at the three depots. Thirteen individuals are still awaiting their test results.
The minister added that tests were also conducted on 353 staff members and individuals with links to the three centres, such as food suppliers.
Those infected have already been sent for treatment.
“Since the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) quarantine and treatment centre was opened, 370 Pati (undocumented migrants) have received treatment there, with 16 discharged,” the senior minister said during his daily press briefing in Putrajaya today.
Aside from MAEPS, the government has also prepared the Sungai Buloh Leprosy Centre and an unused maternity ward at Hospital Kuala Lumpur as quarantine and treatment facilities for undocumented migrants.
The Bukit Jalil immigration depot cluster is the second biggest cluster in Malaysia, after the Sri Petaling tabligh gathering cluster.
Ismail also noted that three countries – Indonesia, Nepal and Bangladesh – have agreed to work with Malaysia to return their citizens back to their home countries.
“The migrants who have been screened and found negative (for Covid-19) will be sent back to their home countries.
“I want to thank the three countries whose embassy representatives here have given a positive response to our recommendation to send their citizens back to their countries, after we have screened them and found them to be negative (for Covid-19), that are Indonesia, Nepal and Bangladesh.”
The Foreign Ministry will discuss with the embassies here and their counterparts in those three countries on the process of sending their citizens back home, he said.
He also reiterated that he hopes the other countries with citizens in the immigration depot would follow in the footsteps of these countries and work together with Malaysia to return their citizens home.
On a separate matter, Ismail said the government has no plans of screening international students living in their university campuses here for now, as there have been no cases among them.
If there are any cases detected among international students, they will be isolated and tested, he said.
However, he noted that the testing will only be done at the affected universities.
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