Total economic shutdown after Feb 4 if COVID-19 cases do not go down - EuroCham

The warning was issued by the of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the European Union (EU) -Malaysia (EuroCham Malaysia) through its chief executive office Sven Schneider in a letter to its members.

According to him, the matter was informed by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Datuk Lokman Hakim Ali during a meeting with EuroCham.

"He informed that the Ministry of Health (MOH) has made a clear stand on the complete closure of the economy.

"A total of 99 COVID-19 clusters in Malaysia are related to the manufacturing sector, and the MOH believes that the sector is the main cause of infection," he said.

EuroCham said the construction sector was also mentioned as one of the causes of the spread but the matter was only discussed briefly as it was not under the jurisdiction of MITI.

"MITI appeals to all foreign and local companies to work together to reduce and break the chain of infection to ensure the economy remains open for business," the letter added.

According to EuroCham, as employee hostels and related activities such as transportation and social activities were identified as the cause of the problem, MITI together with the Chamber of Commerce have outlined several steps.

"The company will appoint at least one representative from the human resources department to coordinate foreign workers and workers in the hostel. It is to reduce movement and social activities.

“Companies should be responsible for the management of foreign workers or their housing appointed through agencies.

"There are cases where the condition of the house is severe as well as the transport does not comply with standard operating procedures (SOP), thus causing the rate of infection to increase," it said.

In addition, companies are also required to provide basic quarantine space in the hostel to ensure that cases under monitoring, close contact and positive cases can be isolated.