Penang govt wants clear instructions on Covid-19 screening for foreign workers

 

The Penang government has urged the federal government to come up with a comprehensive plan of action to help the state complete the mandatory Covid-19 screening of foreign workers by Feb 28.

State Housing, Local Government and Town and Country Planning Committee chairperson Jagdeep Singh Deo (above) said this is important because the national vaccination programme is scheduled to be rolled out by the end of this month.

He said if the federal government issued clear and comprehensive instructions, the state government would be able to cooperate with the relevant authorities to complete the screening exercise on time.

“It is good that we have a plan of action for when we are going to start the vaccination process, but we would want to have clear instructions on how we can complete the mandatory Covid-19 screening test for some 128,000 foreign workers here before Feb 28.

“Without any instructions, our efforts would be futile,” Jagdeep said at a press conference before conducting a spot check on the Covid-19 standard operating procedure (SOP) at Sri Pelangi Apartment today.

The mandatory Covid-19 screening exercise, implemented by the Social Security Organisation (Socso) in collaboration with private clinics and hospitals, was launched in Penang’s red zones on Dec 9 last year, followed by other districts on Dec 16.

As of Jan 31, not more than 50 percent of registered foreign workers in Penang have undergone the Covid-19 test, according to Penang Health Department statistics.

- Bernama