The Malaysian Insight

THE Selangor government’s free mass Covid-19 screening programme in red zones in the state is seeing a lower-than-expected take-up rate among factory workers, with assemblymen faulting employers for not encouraging workers to get tested.

State reps told The Malaysian Insight the programme’s focus is on industrial areas due to the high number of workplace clusters.

Balakong rep Wong Siew Ki said so far, around 1,000 people have taken the free test, a figure below expectations when the constituency has several major industrial areas.

“The first two screenings were held in Taman Industri Balakong Jaya and Taman Industri Sg Chua, and the third was in Taman Industri Selesa Jaya. Slightly more than 800 people came to be screened.

“Taman Industri Selesa Jaya is a large industrial area. We originally targeted for at least 500 people to be screened, but in the end only about 300 people came forward. Nine were found to be Covid-19-positive,” she said.

Wong felt the lacklustre response could be due to the lack of encouragement from employers.

“Most employers think it’s okay not to get tested, and then all hell breaks loose when there is a positive case on their premises,” she said.

Pandamaran assemblyman Leong Tuck Chee also admitted the response towards the programme has not been very encouraging.

“As far as I know, the screening drive in other constituencies is also not very satisfactory. We wonder whether people are taking the pandemic and screening seriously.

“People may feel since most of the positive cases are asymptomatic, the consequences won’t be so dire.

“But people ought to remember that a person with poor health can have a very severe infection,” Leong added.

Leong also urged employers not to be lax and to take screenings for their workers seriously.

“Director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah has warned us that if the infectivity rate goes up to 1.2, the number of daily new cases in the country could grow to more than 3,000,” he said.

Currently, daily infections have been above 2,000 for eight days in a row, with Selangor yesterday registering 633 new infections, second only to Kelantan with 662 fresh infections.

Despite the lukewarm response, Wong in Balakong said she will continue promoting the free screening programme.

“We will engage with local trade unions to increase awareness on screening. I hope that with time, they can accept it.”

She will also submit a proposal to the state government to include employers and employees who have been screened into the priority list for vaccinations.

“Once the Selangor government procures its own vaccine, we hope people who have been screened will be included in the priority list,” Wong said, referring to the state’s plans to procure its own supply of Covid-19 vaccines.

Kajang rep Hee Loy Sian, meanwhile, said people’s attitude towards cheaper screening options was generally not encouraging.

Kajang is currently not a red zone, and so the state’s free testing programme is not held here, but previous rounds of subsidised testing did not draw in crowds.

“We thought the fee was a problem. But even after I subsidised the cost, the response was not up to the mark. So far, only one screening programme has been held in my constituency.”

Without subsidies, a polymerase chain reaction test at a private facility can cost around RM300.

Selangor’s free Covid-19 screening programme was announced in January, as part of the state’s RM73.9 million Pakej Kita Selangor stimulus package.

Of this, RM6 million has been allocated for the mass testing. Authorities hope to test at least 50,000 residents out of the state’s more than six million population. – April 23, 2021.