Covid19 – Singapore to test inmates
In a press release on Saturday (May 15), Singapore Prison Service (SPS) announced that about 1,050 inmates, staff, and partners will be tested for Covid-19 from May 10 to May 12, and about 5,000 will be tested progressively over the next few days.
After finding out that the chef tested positive for Covid-19 on May 13, SPS immediately ceased kitchen operations at Institution A5 and began contact tracing to identify staff and inmates who came into close contact with him. All close contacts have been either isolated or placed on quarantine while waiting to be issued a Quarantine Order (QO).
Affected inmates will serve their quarantine orders in prison, isolated from the rest of the inmate population. Staff, vendors and volunteers will serve theirs at MOH’s designated quarantine facility.
As a precautionary measure, activities including family visits, counselling sessions and non-critical hospital appointments have been halted in Institution A5 where the chef worked, said SPS. Starting May 17 until further notice, visits will be replaced with phone calls. Families who have already booked their visits will have their visits automatically converted to phone calls.
