KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — While welcoming the government’s decision to extend the conditional movement control order (CMCO) to June 9, 2020, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has urged the government to bear Covid-19 screening cost for workers.

In a statement today, FMM president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai said as Covid-19 is a significant health risk of public concern, the government should bear the cost of screening.

"The government must also ensure that there are sufficient rapid test kits made available for all the approved clinics to carry out the screening of workers,” he said.

Soh also called on the government to expand the number of laboratories and hospitals recognised by the Health Ministry (MoH) and included laboratories and hospitals in the Social Security Organisation’s (Socso) Prihatin Screening Programme to allow for a faster screening process.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced in a televised address today that the CMCO, which was supposed to end on May 12, 2020, would be further extended till June 9, 2020. — Bernama