Industrial workers spread virus to housemates, Johor assembly told

 

Johor executive councillor R Vidyananthan said the congested environment of workers’ buses and hostels was a factor. (Bernama pic)

ISKANDAR PUTERI: The presence of Covid-19 variants in Johor is one of the causes for the rapid spread of infections among industrial workers, the Johor state assembly was told today.

Johor executive councillor R Vidyananthan said a total of 16 cases involving the Delta variant were reported in the state as of last Thursday: 11 in Tangkak, two in Segamat, one each in Muar, Batu Pahat and Pontian.

“The spread of infection within the industrial sector is also closely linked to many industrial workers who moved across the state to ‘red zone’ locations for vaccination purposes. To date, a total of 142 industrial clusters are still active,” he said.

“The Johor state health department found that industrial workers who moved across the state to the red zone locations brought back the Covid-19 virus and spread it to colleagues and housemates living in workers’ hostels.”

He was replying to a supplementary question from Abd Taib Abu Bakar (PN-Machap) regarding the significant increase of Covid-19 cases in the state.

Vidyananthan (PN-Kahang) said another factor was the placement of industrial workers, especially foreigners, in congested and crowded environments, including workers’ buses.

He said following that, the state government would always monitor the situation, especially clusters linked to factories through relevant agencies in addition to strengthening and reactivating the manufacturing industry in Johor through the initiatives outlined by JKNJ.

“Factories with positive Covid-19 cases will be closed for at least 24 hours, to allow the health team to conduct detailed investigations, contact tracing, determine areas at risk and carry out disinfection,” he said.

The vaccination drive for factory workers will also be expedited to ensure that they would be vaccinated as soon as possible. - FMT