He said bookings can be made after the foreign workers pass a medical examination and are issued a visa with reference (VDR) through the foreign workers’ centralised management system.

The VDR is issued by the Malaysian representative office abroad to a non-citizen to enable him to enter Malaysia after the visa is approved by the immigration department.

Saravanan said available quarantine centres are located around the Klang Valley, as listed and approved by the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).

“The estimated cost of quarantine is between RM2,000 and RM3,000. This includes accommodation, food and drinks (three times a day), transportation to the quarantine centre and Covid-19 screenings,” he said in a statement today.

As of yesterday, the ministry had received 171,133 applications from foreign workers since Feb 15.

Of this number, 118,967 were for manufacturing, followed by the service (21,040), plantation (15,787), construction (12,252), and agriculture (3,087) sectors.

At the Cabinet meeting on Dec 10, it was agreed that foreign worker recruitment would be opened to various sectors — agriculture, manufacturing, service, mining and quarrying, construction and domestic helpers.

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