KUALA LUMPUR: Health experts believe that the less than ideal housing conditions for foreign workers may be driving the surge in Covid-19 cases at construction sites.
They believe that as long as nothing is done to improve the living conditions in the 'kongsi', which are cramped and leave little to no room for physical distancing, the threat of a Covid-19 outbreak among foreign workers would continue to be present.
Malaysian Public Health Physicians Association president Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar said the current clusters indicated that community transmission had taken place in foreign worker settlements.
"The index cases for Covid-19 clusters involving construction sites originate from foreign workers' communities and settlements.
"This is bound to happen since low-skilled migrant workers often live in cramped accommodation with poor hygiene and ventilation," he told the New Straits Times.
Dr Zainal suggested that Malaysia emulate Singapore and relocate foreign workers to designated hostels to stem Covid-19 transmissions.
"But it is easier said than done. Only some factories provide accommodation for their construction workers. However, the standard operating procedures (SOP) are not enforced properly in these places.
"So, it is important to educate these workers about the SOP by their own people in their native language. They should also undergo swab tests frequently," he said.
The Klang Valley had seen a surge in cases, which saw it overtaking Sabah as the new hotspot.
Kuala Lumpur on Sunday registered 469 cases, 460 of which originated from the Damanlela Construction Site cluster.
Two new clusters linked to construction workers were also detected in Sabah on the same day, namely the Plaza and Jalan Kalabakan clusters.
Yesterday, Top Glove Corp Bhd workers' hostel in Klang, Selangor, was placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order for two weeks after 214 cases were logged among the workers, all linked to the Teratai cluster.
Universiti Putra Malaysia epidemiology and biostatistics expert Associate Professor Dr Malina Osman raised concerns of poor compliance with SOP by foreign construction workers.
"While aggressive contact tracing and screening could be contributing to the recent spike, the numbers could also reflect a poor compliance with SOP.
"In a high density area, any negligence in SOP compliance would have a massive impact on the infection levels in the population," she said.
Echoing Dr Zainal, Malina also called for foreign workers to be provided with better living conditions.
"We have specific laws that provide for this, such as the Workers' Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 446 (Amendment) 2019, which came into force on Sept 1.
"However, the concern now is if employers have the financial capability to provide better living conditions, which are more suitable for disease prevention, for their workers."
Malina also advised construction companies to set up their own task force to facilitate as well as anticipate control and preventive measures.
"The task force should help relevant agencies to fight outbreaks. They should also continuously give reminders to their members to comply with the SOP.
"They should not let each individual worker conduct them on their own initiative or let them decide on their own. Rather, they must shoulder the responsibility together as a team," she said.