THE Penang government is planning to turn the Caring Society Complex in Jalan Utama into a Covid-19 centre to ward mild cases, said Phee Boon Poh.
The state welfare committee chairman said the complex was initially gazetted as a disaster relief centre.
“We will now use the complex as a low-risk Covid-19 centre (LRCC), ” he said in a phone interview on Saturday.
“The complex will be able to take in 140 patients.
“We can accommodate 70 patients in the hall on the ground floor and another 70 in the hall on the first floor, ” he added.
On when the LRCC would begin its operations, Phee said it depended on the number of Covid-19 cases in the state.
“Regardless, we must set up and be ready for any eventuality, ” he said.
As of yesterday, there were 1,628 Covid-19 cases accumulated in the state with nine active clusters identified.
They are the Penang Remand Prison cluster, Seberang Prai
Prison cluster, Bayan cluster, Tembaga cluster, Permatang cluster, Alma cluster, Intan cluster, Rajawali cluster and Assumption cluster.
Penang lost its Covid-19 green status after a positive case linked to the Sivagangga cluster in Kedah was detected in August.
The state was categorised as a red zone again when an 85-year-old inmate of the Penang Remand Prison tested positive after he was found dead in his cell on Oct 5.
The Caring Society Complex became a temporary shelter for the homeless in March when the movement control order was first implemented.
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