Sarawak police chief Aidi Ismail said the decision was made after another group of 295 trainees tested positive for Covid-19 today, taking the total number of trainees infected to 415.

“This is necessary due to the increasing numbers and the fear that there has been a community spread,” he said in a statement.

“To date, we have a total of 415 trainees who have been infected. Besides, 20 teaching staff and their family members also tested positive for the virus,” he said.

On Tuesday (April 13), a group of 61 trainees from the centre had tested positive for Covid-19.

The index case was a trainee who underwent a swab test at the Kota Sentosa Health Clinic on April 9 and was confirmed positive on April 12. The trainee from Perlis had arrived for training on Nov 22 last year.

The health department has set up a 24-hour health clinic and a Covid Assessment Centre, and has tested 633 people from the police training centre.

The department targets to test another 2,000 people, including their close contacts, between April 17 and 19.