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PETALING JAYA: The Ministry of Health plans to work with the relevant authorities to ensure that adequate housing is prepared for workers to further halt the spread of Covid-19.
Health Director General Tan Sri Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah said a good number of Covid-19 cases were related to clusters in tight workplaces and homes.
“Of the 5,681 positive Covid-19 cases detected in workplaces, 3,369 are local workers, while the rest are foreign workers,” it said on Friday (November 13).
He also said that of the 158 active Covid-19 clusters in the country, 65 of them were linked to workplaces.
Dr. Noor Hisham said that workers, especially foreign security guards and builders at construction sites, tend to stay in cramped dwellings and the ministry seeks to ensure they have living spaces where proper physical distancing can be practiced.
“We will work together with the relevant authorities to help manage their homes,” he said.
He said that although employers had taken the initiative to impose temperature controls in the workplace, health workers were concerned about asymptomatic cases.
“Assessing them once is not enough. It may need to be done periodically,” he said.
Dr. Noor Hisham also expressed appreciation to employers who took proactive steps to screen their employees for Covid-19.
He said his actions helped stop the spread of the disease among the community and also helped the Ministry of Health accelerate its own public health initiatives.
“This also helped protect high-risk people, such as the elderly and children, from infection,” he said.
Dr Noor Hisham also reminded workers to strictly follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) to stop the spread of Covid-19 in the workplace.
He said employers and employees alike need to ensure that common areas like bathrooms, kitchens and pantries are kept clean and sanitized to break the chain of infection.
Separately, Dr. Noor Hisham said the Ministry of Health detected four new groups on Friday, two of which were found in Sabah, while one was detected in Sarawak and Melaka.
In Sabah, 46 positive cases from the new Bonggaya group, while 53 more cases were from the Jambatan B group. Both groups were detected in Sandakan, Sabah.
The Abell group in Sarawak recorded 14 positive cases, while there were 10 cases from the BMU group in Melaka.
Dr. Noor Hisham also declared the end of three groups: Selasih, Bah Pengkalan and Bah Pasir. No deaths were recorded in these groups.
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