Covid-19: 474,916 foreign workers tested under mandatory screening policy so far, 15,960 positive

PUTRAJAYA: Thirty-seven more foreign workers screened for Covid-19 under the mandatory screening policy have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The results were from screenings carried out on 15,997 individuals on Feb 23.

So far, 474,916 foreign workers have been tested, involving 24,050 employers.

Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said cumulatively, 15,960 workers were found to be positive for Covid-19 since the mandatory screening policy was imposed on foreign workers late last year.

On enforcement activities, he said police arrested 253 individuals for violating standard operating procedures (SOP) for the movement control order on Tuesday (Feb 23).

Of the total, 231 individuals were issued with compounds while 22 were remanded.

Among offences committed by the violators were failure to provide customer registration facilities (75), not wearing face masks (61), gambling activities (52), cross-border travel without permission (37) and no physical distancing (21).

The taskforce monitoring SOP compliance also carried out checks on 72,547 premises, including supermarkets, banks, government offices and factories.

On Ops Benteng, Ismail Sabri said enforcement officers arrested six illegal immigrants on Feb 23.

"Enforcement authorities also sighted 87 vessels in Malaysian waters," he said on Wednesday (Feb 24).

Ismail Sabri said 625 individuals had returned to the country on Feb 23 and all were sent to observe quarantine at government designated stations.

Since July 24 last year, a total of 130,115 individuals had returned to Malaysia and were sent to undergo quarantine at various locations nationwide.