Covid-19: Over 100,000 foreign workers in Sabah have yet to get tested

 

COVID-19 | Over 100,000 foreign workers in Sabah have yet to undergo Covid-19 screening tests, the state Labour Department said.  

Its director Wan Zukli Wan Setapa said there were 7,578 registered employers in Sabah with 115,157 foreign workers, however, since December, only 3,200 employees involving 700 employers had taken the mandatory tests.

He told reporters this after conducting a Covid-19 screening test compliance operation at a factory with foreign workers in Putatan today.

Wan Zukli urged employers to comply with the mandatory testing by Feb 28.

He said the department, in collaboration with the Health Department and the Social Security Organisation (Socso), would conduct integrated operations and visit premises to ensure that all foreign workers in Sabah undergo screening for the coronavirus.

“If the employer fails to send their foreign workers for screening, then they can be penalised under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988," he added. 

Each foreign worker who undergoes the screening test will receive a subsidy of RM60 and the remaining amount will be borne by the employer, while the test can be conducted at 78 clinics registered with Socso throughout Sabah.

- Bernama