CORONAVIRUS | The Health Ministry's Covid-19 estimations show that Malaysians are doing well in complying with measures against the virus. This is due to the falling trend of new cases which are in line with projections that the country could see almost zero new cases by July 14.
However, the current trends are overshooting estimates when factoring in foreigners, following a series of outbreaks involving migrant workers as well as imported cases.
"The daily Covid-19 cases among Malaysians is in line with the projection of daily cases by the Health Ministry's National Health Institute.
"This is a reflection of the positive impact of measures taken by the government as well as the compliance of Malaysians towards the standard operating procedures (SOPs).
"However, when factoring all Covid-19 cases including those at the immigration detention depot and imported ones, the increase surpassed projections," Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah told a press conference in Putrajaya today.
Covid-19 trends among Malaysians
Covid-19 trends among Malaysians, foreigners, and imported cases
Therefore, he said efforts must be made to ensure improved compliance among foreigners. He noted that circumstances such as their living environment had contributed to the higher prevalence of Covid-19 in their population.
"This means the country now faces a new challenge that we must tackle together, namely the increase of Covid-19 cases among non-citizens.
"Non-citizens should not be sidelined or stigmatised by Malaysians. We need to help them in order to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in our country," he said.
Among the measures that were needed, Noor Hisham said, was to ensure that cramped quarters for foreign workers are resolved in line with the Workers' Minimum Standards and Housing and Amenities Act 1990.
An amendment to the Act which would see more stringent oversight was supposed to come into effect today but was postponed by the Human Resource Ministry to the end of August.
He added that all foreign workers within Covid-19 red zones must undergo compulsory screening while employers in yellow and green zones are encouraged to also test their foreign workers.
He also urged cooperation from embassies and NGOs to communicate with the migrant population on combating Covid-19 while employers are encouraged to educate them on the virus.
Noor Hisham today announced 38 new Covid-19 cases comprising 26 imported cases and 12 local transmissions.
Since April 3, all Malaysians returning from abroad must undergo mandatory isolation at quarantine stations for 14 days.
This has helped authorities to quickly contain new Covid-19 cases brought in from overseas.
Malaysia has had an international travel ban since March 18 and only Malaysians returning from abroad are allowed in. They cannot leave the country.
Of the 12 local transmissions today, half were Malaysians while another half were non-citizens. - Mkini
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