Sabah doubts it can screen all 100,000 foreign workers

A health worker carries out a swab test in Kota Kinabalu.

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has expressed doubts whether it has enough reagents to carry out swab tests on the estimated 100,000 foreign workers in the state.

This follows the federal government’s announcement today that it will be mandatory for foreign workers across the country to undergo Covid-19 screening following a spike in cases among them.

Senior federal minister for security Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in his daily briefing that employers have to bear the cost of the tests.

However Sabah state health minister Frankie Poon said only a limited supply of reagents was available in the state for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing to be carried out.

“In any case, government hospitals will not allow anyone just to come in for such a test since one must fulfil the requirements, such as having close contact with Covid-19 patients and showing symptoms.

“We have only a limited supply of reagents, so we need to prioritise,” he told FMT.

Poon said employers could opt to do the swabs in private hospitals but only three private hospitals were providing such tests.

He said he would discuss with state health director Dr Christina Rundi on the best possible approach to ensure all foreign workers were tested.

He also asked whether it was possible to have the workers tested using the Covid-19 rapid test kits, which had arrived from South Korea last week.

He said Sabah had received 10,000 of the 50,000 kits delivered.

“I have asked for more from health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah. He expects 100,000 more test kits to come in.

“But, of course, it is best to have the workers tested with a method approved by the health ministry. We will need to find out more about what Ismail had announced,” he said. - FMT