GEORGE TOWN – Non-medical frontliners, especially the police and those who are involved in the legal system should undergo frequent Covid-19 tests, said a criminologist today.

Assoc Professor Datuk Dr P. Sundramoorthy of Universiti Sains Malaysia said this was imperative in helping to restore confidence among the public in the fight to contain the pandemic, following reports the virus had spread to the Penang prison.

“Frontliners such as the police, court staff, including judges, interpreters, administrative staff, lawyers, defendants, and witnesses attending court trials are vulnerable to contracting Covid-19,” he said.

There is a need to expand the Covid-19 screening to everyone associated with the court system, he added.

He also called for more personal protective equipment (PPE) to be distributed to these frontliners to ensure there is another layer of protection for them.

Sundramoorthy added, it is important that the police themselves adhere to standard operating procedures (SOP), in addition to ensuring SOPs are strictly followed at court complexes.

“In barber shops, every customer will have their temperature recorded, in addition to being required to use face masks, and sanitising their hands before coming into the shops,” he said.

“Do we do that at the court houses? Especially in the lifts, door knobs, dock space and witness stands. How often are these sanitised. The docks used by an accused in the morning, is then used by another person in the afternoon. We have to look at this seriously if we are to stop the virus from spreading,” he said.

Sundramoorthy was responding to queries after six Penang Prison detainees who recently tested positive for Covid-19, were believed to have gotten infected while on the way to the court complex in Light Street, and not in the jail itself.

It is likely that they caught the coronavirus from the police officers who were on escort duty.

The six were admitted to the Penang Hospital and quarantined for 14 days. 

On Monday, an 85-year-old murder case detainee was found unconscious in the cell before he was taken to the Penang Hospital.

Upon arrival, doctors pronounced him dead and a post-mortem conducted found the deceased had tested positive for Covid-19 

Health authorities sanitised the prison complex and conducted preliminary tests on inmates in an attempt to prevent the spread.

This article first appeared on The Vibes.