PUTRAJAYA: A large-scale Covid-19 testing will be conducted among migrant workers in the country soon, as part of the Health Ministry’s efforts to combat the spread of the virus.
Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this on the heels of a similar action taken by Singapore.
"We are embarking on a big scale screening of our migrant workers. We are learning from Singapore,“ he told a press conference, here, today.
Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry would also conduct mass screenings on targeted groups, based on factors such as infection hotspots and cluster groups.
He said this includes tahfiz students nationwide. Currently, there are 197 tahfiz schools in the country with 11,045 students. 8,392 of them have been screened.
“We are adopting a focused targeted approach. The screening is based on targeted locations as well as people,” he said.
Apart from tahfiz groups, Dr Noor Hisham said another target group is the tabligh cluster, which made up 39 to 40 per cent of the country’s total positive cases.
“Any location under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO, such as in Simpang Renggam, Menara City One or Selangor Mansion) will be followed with testing conducted on everyone in that area.
“Basically, when we enforce strict movement control for an area and implement the EMCO, we are targeting the area and we will test everyone,” he said.
Asked on the number of cases involving Malaysians in Singapore, Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry has yet to receive information on the matter.