One million workers to work from home

Ismail Sabri says employees living in red zones who have to be in the office need to take Covid-19 swab tests

by NUR HAZIQAH A MALEK / pic by BLOOMBERG

ONE million workers from both public and private sectors at Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) areas will be subjected to a work-from-home order as the government found nine new Covid-19 clusters originated from workplaces.

This will involve management and supervisory personnel working in Sabah, Labuan, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor. They are required to work from home from tomorrow onwards.

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said employees living in red zones who have to be in the office need to take Covid-19 swab tests.

The Social Security Organisation will cover the costs of the swab tests for contributors.

However, workers in the finance, payments, enforcement and welfare sectors are exempted from the order, Ismail Sabri said.

“Further standard operating procedures (SOPs) will be issued by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry soon,” he said in his daily press briefing yesterday.

Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri added that Targeted Enhanced MCO (TEMCO) would also be implemented on two villages located in Labuan.

“The TEMCO involves Kampung Saguking Laut and Kampung Sebur Baru, and would take place from today until Nov 3,” he said.

On the enforcement of the SOPs, he said 460 individuals were detained for breaching them.

“Of the total, 440 were compounded and 20 of them were remanded.

“Among the offences committed were the lack of physical distancing with 167, not wearing face masks (159), failed to prepare the device to record their entry and exit information (58), and others (76),” he said.

The task force will further increase investigations and actions on premise owners and the public who refuse to comply with the SOPs.

“The task force, which checked up on premises, observed 3,509 supermarkets, 4,717 restaurants, 1,049 factories and 1,747 farmers and public markets, alongside 3,111 worship places and 1,293 leisure spots,” he added.

In addition, 29 public sanitation operations were performed on eight red zones, eight yellow zones and seven green zones in 12 states yesterday.

“The operations were performed in Sabah (9), Kedah (5), Pulau Pinang (4), Terengganu (2), Pahang (2), Selangor (1) and Sarawak (1),” he said.

In regard to the mandatory quarantine, around 8,441 are currently undergoing isolation at 67 hotels and 16 premises including institutions both private and public.

“381 individuals were brought to the hospital for treatment, while 42,898 individuals have been discharged and allowed to return home so far,” he said.

On the Benteng Ops, 57 foreigners were detained and four vehicles were confiscated, adding to the total of foreigners arrested to 7,546 since May 2020.

From the total of 57, 15 foreigners were arrested at Tanjung Balau, Kota Tinggi, Johor.