Screenings held up due to limited clinic capacity

GEORGE TOWN: Employers should be given more time to carry out the mandatory Covid-19 screening of foreign workers, which was enforced on New Year’s Day.

State local government committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo urged the Federal Government to give employers more time because of the limited capacity of clinics and healthcare facilities in the state.

On Thursday, the Social Security Organisation (Socso) revealed that only 8.5% of those in targeted areas had been screened.

Socso also said it had purchased nearly a million test kits, which were sufficient to cover the foreign workers registered with the organisation in the six areas targeted.

Jagdeep pointed out that in Penang, where there are about 140,000 foreign workers, clinics would not be able to handle all the screenings.

“There are only 51 panel clinics. We need more clinics because of capacity and the cost should be borne by the government, ” he told reporters after a spot check on SOP compliance at the Taman Free School market yesterday.

Jagdeep said the state welcomed announcements by the government that vaccines would be delivered, with the cost borne by it.

In his New Year’s Eve address, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the government would ensure an efficient, safe and adequate vaccine supply for at least 80% of the population and that it would be given free to citizens.

He said the National Covid-19 Immunisation Plan would be implemented by the Health Ministry in three phases beginning next month.

In an update on the Covid-19 status in Penang, Jagdeep said the state recorded 92 new cases on the last day of 2020.