Some questions about foreign worker screening

The government has made it mandatory for all foreign workers except maids working in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur to be tested for Covid-19.

There are a number of issues here that need to be ironed out first.

What is the real cost of conducting a test? There have been reports that the cost could range from as low as RM200 to as high as RM800. Why such a large discrepancy? What are the itemised costs? Profiteering during these trying times should be the last thing on the mind of private hospitals.

Rather than let private hospitals determine the price, the government should step in. The ideal solution would be consensus on a standard price or some sort of controlled price. I urge private hospitals, as part of their corporate social responsibility, to forgo profits in the overall interest of the health of the nation by agreeing to charge a nominal fee. The price of each test can be lowered considerably if profits are set aside, meaning that the fee charged is the actual cost of conducting the test.

Rent-seekers and middlemen should not be allowed to jump on this nascent bandwagon.

Who should bear the burden of conducting the tests? To have the employer to bear the entire cost would be too burdensome, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). I suggest that the cost be shared equally by three parties: the employer, the employee and the government. The employee has a choice: pay a small fee and remain employed or continue to be unemployed. Since the government is in charge of the overall health of the nation, it is also its moral duty to help out and share the cost. So all three parties should agree to forking out one-third of the total cost.

Unless the tests are conducted in an expeditious manner, SMEs will not be able to begin operations. Time is of the essence. They have already waited long enough during the MCO.

Do we have the capacity to conduct tests on hundreds and thousands of foreigners within a reasonable period of time? Senior Minister (Infrastructure) Fadillah Yusof had said employers need to ensure that all their foreign workers undergo the tests before they are allowed to start working. In this regard, the government has an obligation to ensure that the capacity of hospitals is fully expanded to cater for the increased demand. For instance, the armed forces hospitals should be mobilised for this purpose.

Finally, are the types of tests being conducted by the health ministry providing accurate results? The Chinese health experts who were here to share their experiences in tackling Covid-19 recommended that Malaysia extend its testing of the disease using the PCR method which they claim is more accurate. So far the ministry has not responded to this suggestion. Are we agreeable to this more thorough but slightly more expensive testing method?

We cannot afford to have “bad” test results – ones that give a false negative result when it fact it should have been positive. Rather than seek immediate treatment, the person concerned (with a false sense of confidence) would continue to mingle with his co-workers and thereby spread the virus. Surely we don’t want this to happen.

Pola Singh is an FMT reader.