Making tests a must for businesses to reopen problematic, says Sabah

A health worker conducting a swab test in Kota Kinabalu today.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah health director Dr Christina Rundi said Covid-19 tests for foreign workers alone should not be a prerequisite for allowing businesses to resume operations.

She was concerned that the state health system would be overwhelmed if this is made a condition for allowing businesses to reopen.

“In stages, we will be able to do it, but if it is going to be a prerequisite for a business to reopen, then it is going to be a problem,” she said here today.

Rundi said government hospitals in Sabah would not be able to cope if all such tests were done in their facilities. She added this could be done by the private sector.

Senior federal minister for security Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday announced that it would be mandatory for foreign workers across the country to undergo Covid-19 screening following a spike in cases among them.

Ismail said these workers would need to take a swab test, adding it was compulsory for all foreign workers in all sectors, including construction, manufacturing and commercial, to undergo such screening.

Sabah health director Dr Christina Rundi.

Rundi said what should be done is for firms to have in place a system where they could ensure their staff were healthy and, at the same time, detect those who fell sick.

She said the state Health Department was in the midst of facilitating some of the businesses that were trying to reopen, adding the department would advise these companies to update their standard operating procedures (SOP).

“You need to understand that the pandemic is still going on. So, it is not like returning to work, with things back to normal.

“You need to be able to make sure safety measures are in place, for example, screening and other things we’ve been teaching people during this outbreak, such as social distancing, use of face masks and hand sanitisers.

“These are things that need to be incorporated into their SOP, for both people in the front desk and others,” Rundi said.

Sabah Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister Frankie Poon told FMT it was not feasible to insist on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests before restarting operations.

“The primary task of each firm is to set up an independent health monitoring system within its business.

“This is applying what the health ministry has always advised with an SOP for its operations to avoid its staff from contracting Covid-19 from each other and from clients or consumers patronising their premises.

“This is more appropriate as a negative Covid-19 result now doesn’t mean it will be the same result for life. What’s important is the adherence to strict Covid-19 prevention guidelines,” he said.

Poon yesterday expressed doubts that Sabah would be able to carry out such tests on more than 100,000 foreign workers in the state as there is only a limited supply of reagents available for PCR tests. - FMT