Earlier this week, the drama surrounding Malaysian drug trafficker Nagaenthran Dharmalingam took a shocking turn when the 33-year-old tested positive for Covid-19.
Naturally, Singaporeans wondered about the Covid-19 situation in our prisons and rehabilitation centres.
On Thursday (11 Nov), the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) issued a statement saying that 169 inmates have tested positive for Covid-19 thus far.
The majority of these cases are reportedly from Changi Prison Complex (CPC) and include inmates on death row.
In a statement on Thursday (11 Nov), SPS gave a breakdown of the Covid-19 cases across its system:
While no inmates nor staff were hospitalised for their infections, 3 supervisees have been conveyed to hospitals as they were symptomatic. Thankfully, their condition is currently stable.
Supervisees are inmates who are serving the tail-end of their sentences in the community through Community-based Programmes.
Of the 169 infected inmates, 116 are from Institution A1 of CPC — the same facility where Nagaenthran was held.
The institution has since been placed on lockdown with an enhanced testing regime implemented.
SPS has also suspended face-to-face visits for prisoners on death row and replaced them with phone calls for the time being. Physical face-to-face visits will resume when the situation stabilise.
Face-to-face visits for general inmates have been suspended since 4 Oct.
To protect inmates and staff, SPS has also put in place measures such as a 2-week segregation period for newly admitted inmates.
Inmates and staff are also reminded to seek medical attention immediately if they’re feeling unwell.
Additionally, elderly inmates, as well as those who are medically vulnerable, are housed with fully-vaccinated prisoners.
Despite the measures implemented, vaccination remains a “key strategy” for SPS to manage the Covid-19 situation in prisons.
As of 7 Nov, 99.5% and 90% of SPS staff and eligible inmates have been fully vaccinated.
As Covid-19 spreads throughout the community, it’s inevitable that inmates and prison staff get infected too.
That said, we’re glad measures have been implemented to reduce the risk of infection in the facilities.
We hope the Covid-19 situation in Singapore improves so face-to-face visits can resume once again.
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Featured image adapted from Allen Sng on Flickr.
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