PETALING JAYA: The Social Security Organisation (Socso) will bear the cost for Covid-19 screening for foreign workers who contribute to the organisation, says Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said that 60% of foreign workers contributed to Socso.
Ismail Sabri also said that the testing will start in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, starting with those in the construction sector.
However, he did not speak about foreign workers who did not contribute to Socso.
He said the government made the decision to make it mandatory for all foreign workers to be tested because it was worried there would be a cluster of foreign workers infected with the disease.
"This is for prevention. We do not want what happened to Singapore to happen here.Their curve was flat all the while but because of a new cluster, the statistics went up suddenly. We don't want that to happen here," he said during his daily press briefing on Tuesday (May 5).
He said the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) should realise that whatever the government was doing was for the good of the country.
He said that if there were cases among foreign workers, the company or premises would have to be shut down.
"Those found to be positive can be separated and get treatment while those who test negative are allowed to work," he said.
On Saturday (May 2), the government announced that 27 new Covid-19 cases were detected at a construction site on Jalan Ampang.
The construction site has been closed for the moment.
