KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 ― A government task force consisting of local authorities and public health officials has been formed to oversee the screening and quarantine procedures of Top Glove Corporation Bhd’s factory employees, said Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today.
Ismail also stated that the task force will also oversee the temporary closure of all 28 Top Glove factories within the state of Selangor, which are undergoing enhanced movement control order (EMCO).
“In total, the factory has 11,215 employees. As of 23, November 2020, a total of 5,795 screening tests have been conducted and 2,684 positive cases in the EMCO area, has been recorded.
“As of yesterday, 20 factories have been closed while seven more will be closed today and one more will follow soon,’’ said Ismail in his press briefing today.
This comes as a spike of Covid-19 cases among Top Glove factory workers in the state which prompted the government to order the temporary closure of its factories in stages and place it under EMCO.
As a precautionary measure, Ismail said the government have also ordered Top Glove to conduct screening and subsequently quarantine 2,263 of its employees that is residing outside of the EMCO area.
“This is due to these employees working at the factories but did not reside within the EMCO area,’’ said Ismail.
Ismail also calls for calm following the 2,188 positive Covid-19 cases recorded yesterday, stating that the matter is still under control and that most cases were being recorded from Top Glove factories and other workplace clusters instead of recorded cases of infection within the community.
The aforementioned task force consists of the Selangor office of the National Security Council, Selangor Health Department, the Klang District Office, Klang Municipal Council and Klang district police.
Yesterday, Malaysia’s Covid-19 situation has deteriorated to unprecedented levels with record 2,188 news, with 1,511 of them or 93.1 per cent coming from the Teratai cluster linked to the company’s workers.
On Monday, the Ministry of Health said that it was informed around 13,000 people work at 28 of Top Glove Corporation Bhd’s factories, and authorities are planning to screen all of them following the rise of cases in the Teratai cluster.
In its daily statement, it said that the previous enhanced movement control order (EMCO) mandated on company workers’ dormitories had only involved around 5,900 people, with 43.8 per cent infection, or 2,524 positive Covid-19 cases among 5,767 tested.
