KAJANG (Oct 13): All new inmates to be managed by the Prisons Department around Selangor will be segregated in a special quarantine centre prior to being placed in prison to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Prisons director Datuk Mohd Sakeri Dollah said the prisons involved were Kajang Women's Prison, Kajang Prison, Sungai Buloh Prison and Puncak Alam Prison.

In a press conference after officiating the Psychology Day celebration at the Kajang Prison’s Sports Complex here, he said the prison had an isolated block which was currently being used for quarantine purposes, while another quarantine centre would be set up at the Malaysian Prisons College, here, which could accommodate up to 300 prisoners at a time.

"We do not know the full background of the new inmates, and most of them are drug addicts who are still unstable. So we need some security measures to prevent untoward incidents from occurring," he said.

In another development, Mohd Sakeri said the department was lacking counsellors to deal with mental health problems among prisoners and prison staff who suffered from depression.

“In the Kajang Prison, we only have three psychology officers, while we have 1,000 prison staff and 6,000 prisoners. This means that they cannot give due focus on special cases,” he said.