SOME 900 employees from nine manufacturing companies in Penang have undergone the Covid-19 mass screening from May 22 to 29.
Five of them (employees) were tested positive and they were asymptomatic.
The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers Penang (FMM Penang) chairman Datuk Jimmy Ong said early detection is extremely important to prevent Covid-19 clusters from emerging.
“The companies managed to detect those who were infected and take the necessary precautions before they become clusters.
“The Penang S.A.F.E programme, a joint collaboration between the Penang government and FMM Penang, has obtained the approval from the Health Ministry on May 18 to increase Covid-19 screenings among workers in the manufacturing sector using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.
“Deep throat saliva samples are used instead of the nasal swab samples.
“We rolled out the Penang S.A.F.E programme on May 22 after we received the approval from the ministry.
“We encourage the companies to test their employees using the pool testing method which is cost effective.
“Workers who are working in the same department or using the same transport can be grouped together; have their deep throat saliva samples combined in order to carry out a ‘group’ test.
“If any of the ‘group’ samples show a positive result, each individual in the ‘positive group’ will be tested.
“The companies can screen all their employees for the first round of testing.
“For the second round of testing and so on, perhaps every two weeks, the companies can screen 20% of their employees to ensure there are no Covid-19 clusters in their companies.
“We should continue the Penang S.A.F.E programme until the herd immunity is reached,” Ong said when contacted today.
He thanked the relevant labs and clinics for being the drivers behind the initiative.
Ong said there are over 300,000 employees in the manufacturing sector (excluding the manufacturing-related employees).
“Continuous screenings have to be done although there are Covid-19 vaccines now.
“FMM Penang also conducted a survey for one week, which ended on May 20, to find out who is interested to be vaccinated.
“Some 35,000 employees, which we categorised as Batch One, have expressed their interest to be vaccinated.
“We can help to coordinate the workers to be part of the proposed mass Covid-19 vaccination programme for the economic frontliners,” he said.
Ong also said that the manufacturing companies in Penang, under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) approved list, did not face difficulties getting their approvals to operate during the lockdown period from June 1 to 14.
“We understand the need for a lockdown and the 60% capacity imposed.
“Everyone needs to strictly observe the SOPs to curb the spread of Covid-19,” he added.
Story by Christopher Tan