This was revealed by tourism, arts and culture minister Nancy Shukri at a virtual press conference today on the annual national Chinese New Year open house celebration.

The programme, a collaboration between the ministry and the Labour Department would temporarily house migrant workers in hotels so as to curb the spread of Covid-19 cases, especially with the large number of workplace clusters that have been reported.

“Though 79 hotels have registered for the programme, there is no update from the Labour Department in terms of participation from the employers side,” she said.

The decision to carry out the temporary accommodation programme was reached during a special meeting of the National Security Council on Covid-19 management, which was held on Jan 26.

Aside from helping employers to comply with the minimum requirements under labour law, the programme was also meant to indirectly assist hotel operators who have been greatly impacted by the pandemic.

This comes as more than 100 hotels have closed since the outbreak began almost a year ago, according to the Malaysian Association of Hotels.

Meanwhile, Nancy said the annual national CNY open house 2021 will be held online this year due to the pandemic.

Among others, the virtual celebration will include various cultural dance performances and will be aired on RTM as well as on the ministry’s Facebook page on Saturday, at 9pm.