LETTER | Focus on foreign worker quarters and dormitories next

LETTER | I am writing this wishing that I am wrong, but I am not fully comfortable at this stage to congratulate ourselves that we have done well in our fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Our daily figures seem benign. The numbers of new infections, recoveries, patients in ICU and needing ventilators et cetera all seem under control.

But against all this, we must really look at the number of tests we have conducted each day especially in areas deemed most vulnerable. The Ministry of Health has rightly focussed its scarce resources on the “hot” clusters so far. But have we done enough to cover all the potential hot areas?

The numbers that came out of Singapore in recent days seem to suggest some disturbing trends. Earlier, everyone was praising Singapore for its efforts to contain the pandemic. Apparently, the situation is different now, with new cases spiralling to more than 700 per day. The bulk of the new cases has come from foreign worker dormitories.

Malaysia too has a large number of foreign workers residing everywhere, in worker quarters and dormitories. Have we checked on them?

I dread to think these may be the new clusters that we have neglected thus far? What then will be the consequences when these workers start to mingle with the rest of the population once the movement control order is over or when certain industries are allowed to resume operation?

Most foreign workers live in conditions that are less than ideal. It is important for Malaysia to learn valuable lessons from Singapore’s experience.

I believe our authorities here will not wait till it is too late to take action. With scarce resources, I think we should next focus on foreign worker quarters and dormitories.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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