A top health expert has urged the government to pay close attention to workplace clusters if it plans to end the Movement Control Order and re-open the economy on Feb 5.
Despite the escalating number of Covid-19 cases in the country which saw more than 5,000 cases for three consecutive days since Friday, infectious disease consultant Datuk Dr Christopher Lee acknowledges the economy should inevitably re-open – on condition it is done “safely”.
“When it comes to choosing between health and the economy, we must lean towards health but we cannot keep saying we need another MCO,” said Dr Lee, who retired as Health Ministry deputy director-general (research and technical support) last year.
“We hear a lot about workplace clusters but what are we doing about it? It will not make sense anymore to tell people to comply with SOPs (standard operating procedures). It must go beyond this and we need to find strategies to get more people to comply with SOPs or get others to influence them to do so,” he said.
Yesterday, the Health Ministry said there were 14 new clusters, of which nine were related to the workplace. The government had also said factory and construction workers accounted for the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
A member of the Selangor task force on Covid-19, Dr Lee said the task force had been pushing on several strategies to reduce workplace infections including the introduction of ‘Preventing Outbreak at Ignition Site’. The task force has also engaged with the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers over the past few months.
“To make more money and ensure their clients are happy, industries must first invest in keeping their staff safe. They have to improve their workers’ living conditions and make their workplace safe but this requires money,” he said.
Last December, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said accommodation for 91.1 per cent or 1.4 million foreign workers in Malaysia did not meet provisions under the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990. This includes being forced to live in cramped and unhygienic conditions.
On Jan 30, Saravanan said the nation will expand its Covid-19 screening programmes for foreign workers beginning today, focusing on 800,000 foreign nationals working in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, Sabah, Kuala Lumpur and Labuan.
Through cooperation between the Social Security Organisation (Socso) and private clinics, the screening will be done using the antigen rapid test kits (RTK-Ag).
Socso will only bear the cost of the kits for contributors. Employers, however, will have to fork out additional charges imposed by clinics. Employers will also have to pay for the kits and additional clinic charges for workers who don’t contribute to Socso.
However, Dr Lee said business owners need more incentives, including additional subsidies for testing and tax relief. Employers who comply with the government’s directives should be given a pat on their backs.
“It should be beyond what Socso is doing. The Human Resources and the International Trade and Industry Ministries should step in. It’s better to have 10 people living in one room compared to 15 … at least we are moving forward,” said Dr Lee.
“You need to prepare workplaces to ensure it gets safer before you re-open the economy. You can use the stick, but you must also dangle the carrot.
“While there cannot be one collective solution, we must not lose the plot.”
