Mass testing of foreign workers to prevent new Covid-19 clusters, gov't tells MEF

CORONAVIRUS | Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob today said the government had taken its cue from Singapore and ordered mass screening of foreign workers in the country to prevent new Covid-19 clusters.

As such, Ismail urged for cooperation from employers to the government's call for them to cover the costs of screening their foreign workers.

"I hope the Malaysian Employers Federation understands that what we are doing is to protect the interests of all our people in the country.

"If there is a Covid-19 positive case among their workers, we will close their companies, we will close their businesses, or we will close their factories," stressed the senior minister in charge of the security cluster.

"For me, it is better for them to stay open rather than closed.

"Therefore, they must perform the tests on their workers," he said at the daily National Security Council Covid-19 update press conference in Putrajaya.

Although the initial call was for all foreign workers to be tested, Ismail said the first phase would involve migrant workers at construction sites in Selangor and Federal Territories.

He added that approximately 60 percent of foreign workers in the country are contributors to the Social Security Organisation (Socso), and the costs of their Covid-19 screenings are already covered.

Ismail said this when asked for comments on objections raised by the MEF against the decision announced yesterday which was made following the discovery of a new infection cluster involving 27 foreign workers at a construction site in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

Earlier today, MEF president Shamsuddin Bardan insisted that the government should bear the estimated costs of over RM1 billion to perform a mandatory Covid-19 screening on all foreign workers in the country.

Shamsuddin said it would be unfair to expect employers to foot the bill, particularly as it was the government's decision and businesses have just resumed operations following the enforcement of the conditional movement control order (MCO) which began yesterday. - Mkini