Public health first: Call for moratorium on detention of undocumented immigrants

As at May 23,81 Covid-19-positive cases have been detected in immigration detention centres in Selangor: 60 in Bukit Jalil and 21 in Semenyih. At a press conference held on May 22, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob stated that the 60 confirmed positive cases in Bukit Jalil have been in the centre before the movement control order (MCO) took effect on March 18, and that all 114 of the Immigration officers on duty have tested negative.

While the government has stated that it will be screening detainees, testing alone is not a foolproof measure of preventing the spread of the virus. If the testing is only done once, there is no guarantee that the person would be free from infection, as the infected person may test negative because the test is unable to detect new exposure to infection within five days.