Asked whether the government should make it compulsory for employers to test foreign workers for Covid-19, Ismail listed out the challenges in screening all of the country’s 1.7 million foreign workers before saying that they could not be prevented from moving around.
“They can go to markets and eat in restaurants and this may lead to infections,” he said during a press conference today.
“We cannot prevent them from moving around and we cannot even differentiate between the faces of Bangladeshi workers, Myanmar workers and us. It’s difficult.
“We are currently discussing whether all foreign workers have to wear wristbands, so we will know when they are out and we can prevent them from going out.
“These are the details we will decide and table again during Friday’s National Security Council (MKN) meeting,” he added.
Yesterday, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said foreign workers seen walking around a construction site, although wearing pink wristbands, were allowed to do so as they were involved in community screenings and not close-contact screenings.
He said this after a few photographs showing workers wearing pink wristbands working at a construction site went viral.
In a Facebook post, Noor Hisham said 264 of 273 workers went through community screenings at the construction site and were given the pink wristbands to indicate they were foreigners and to prevent them from leaving the construction area.
The Damanlela construction site cluster in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor and the Teratai cluster in Selangor – both linked to foreign workers – recorded the biggest jump in active cases yesterday.
The former had a total of 206 new cases yesterday while the latter had 142.
Ismail said overcrowded living conditions contribute greatly to the spread of Covid-19.
“There were discussions with the human resources ministry about workers’ living arrangements during today’s MKN meeting, especially with regard to amendments to the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446),” he said.
The amendments, which came into force on June 1 and were enforced from Sept 1, mandates a minimum space requirement for workers’ accommodation, basic facilities as well as safety and hygiene standards.
“There should be 10 people in one house, but there are up to 30 now,” Ismail said.
“One apartment may have up to 20 or 30 people sleeping in the kitchen and things like that.
“In situations like these, if there is only one positive case, infections will spread very quickly.”
CLICK HERE FOR OUR LIVE UPDATE OF THE COVID-19 SITUATION IN MALAYSIA