Shut down voluntarily if workers have COVID-19, MOH tells employers

PORT KLANG: Employers and factory operators are urged to take their own initiative to shut down operations if there are positive COVID-19 cases among workers.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said the action could not only reduce cases in the manufacturing sector but also indirectly contain the pandemic in the community.

He said the manufacturing sector was the highest contributor to total daily positive cases, and until yesterday, of the overall 41,396 active cases recorded, 14,423 cases were from the sector.

‘’The manufacturing clusters are still the highest contributors to the hike in COVID-19 cases in the country.

‘’Of the 236 manufacturing sector clusters identified in the third wave, 203 are still active.

‘’Employers must also be committed to complying with Act 342 (Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988) and Act 446 (Workers' Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990) to contain the pandemic,’’ he told reporters after visiting a factory in Pulau Indah here that was closed today following the spread of COVID-19 among its workers.

Dr Adham praised the factory’s decision to voluntarily shut down operations after cases started being detected among its workers since Tuesday.

“To date, all 102 workers have been screened and 57 were positive COVID-19. This means infectivity is at almost 50 per cent.

In another development, Dr Adham said production shutdowns by factories during the Chinese New Year celebration recently had contributed to the drop in COVID-19 cases lately.

He said MOH was still conducting screenings as outlined and recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

‘’As of last week, we have met the required number of screenings because the number of tests implemented to date is in compliance with what was issued by WHO.

‘’If there is one positive case, there will be at least 10 negative cases (community screenings). Similarly, if 1,000 cases are reported, there will be 10,000 negative cases,’’ he said.

Dr Adham was commenting on allegations that the daily number of COVID-19 cases that has shown a drop lately was due to reduced screening activities in the field.

Yesterday, the nation recorded 2,998 new COVID-19 cases and 22 deaths, taking the case tally of active cases to 41,396 and raising the death toll to 1,005.

-- BERNAMA