Upon testing negative after the second swab on the 13th day of quarantine, they will be moved to the prison blocks where they will be isolated from other prisoners for another five days before being allowed to mix with other inmates.

Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the SOP was updated in view of the outbreak of Covid-19 in prisons.

“This will be done for detainees whether they are in remand or sentenced to prison,” he said in a live-streamed press conference today.

He said temporary prisons had also been set up to ease overcrowded centres, while medical bases had been set up near prisons to get treatment to non-critical patients.

Prisoners will not be allowed to receive visits from family members, and the prisons will be sanitised twice a day.

The movement of detainees will also be limited under the new SOP, except for those on kitchen and cleaning duties.

For detainees being brought to court, physical distancing will be practised in vehicles while officers escorting them will be required to be screened to ensure that they are free of the virus.

Ismail said 420 people were arrested by police yesterday for breaching the recovery movement control order, with 380 of them fined, 39 remanded and one granted bail.

Most of them were caught for failing to record their personal details when entering shops (96), not wearing a mask (117) and not practising physical distancing (145).

The others were arrested for activities at entertainment centres, working without valid permits, hiring workers without permits, leaving their homes in areas under a conditional movement control order and operating their businesses past stipulated hours.

The authorities also detained 31 undocumented migrants and two suspected smugglers yesterday as part of the ongoing Ops Benteng campaign. They also confiscated 11 vehicles.