KOTA KINABALU, Jan 15 ― Following the emergence of two new clusters from Sabah's east coast, the state government has made it compulsory for all plantation companies to screen their workers.

Sabah Covid-19 spokesman Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun said that the need was evident after the two new clusters in the Baturong plantation in Kunak and Matamba plantation in Lahad Datu.

“The government has also instructed all plantation managements to set up a health facility and its own quarantine and low risk treatment centres to treat some or any patients in case they need to be quarantined and treated.

“This is part and parcel of estate's social responsibility towards their workers,” he said.

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Sabah added 514 new cases today, an increase of 125 cases from the day before, mostly due to mass screenings undertaken by Perkeso in the two estates.

 “The screenings there will continue so while we hope there are no more close contacts infection, we might expect more cases in several days.

“The new clusters at the two estates speaks volume for the management to do compulsory screenings on all their staff and workers,” said Masidi.

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The Sabah local government and housing minister said that plantation firms should ensure all their workers are screened  and take on testing costs for workers who are not covered under the Perkeso scheme.

Asked whether action will be taken against any companies that do not comply, he said that the government are not looking at punitive actions yet.

 “It is a financial burden to some extent, but they must remember it is their own business facing a risk. It is the best interest of everyone that no workers are infected.

 “So at this moment we have not discussed punitive action or punishment, as our intention is not to penalise but a collective effort to combat the bigger problem which is the pandemic,” he said.

Today, the Baturong plantation saw 54 new cases while the Matamba plantation saw 20 cases.

The state health system is still under pressure with 42 per cent of beds occupied in hospitals and treatment centres on average, although some hospitals and centres are nearing maximum capacity.

On a separate matter, Masidi announced that all flour mills may operate round the clock now, provided that they are only at 50 per cent staff capacity at any one time.

“We know that flour mills need to operate as people are eating bread every day. Therefore we allow them to operate for 24 hours a day but only at 50 per cent capacity on one shift.”

Masidi also said those Sabah who needed to travel more than 10km radius during this movement control order (MCO) may be able to do so as consideration is made for Sabah's vast population spread, especially in rural areas.

It was recently reported that police would allow those living in remote areas to be allowed to travel further as infrastructure was spread out and some needed to travel further to get essentials or run errands.

 “So our answer is it is up to the police discretion to allow or not to allow, they would know, the 10km is just a guideline,” he added.