ISKANDAR PUTERI – The presence of Covid-19 variants in Johor is one of the causes for the rapid spread of infections among industrial workers, the Johor assembly was told today.
Johor Health and Environment Committee chairman R. Vidyananthan (Kahang-Umno) said a total of 16 Delta variant cases were reported in the state as of last Thursday, namely 11 cases in Tangkak, two in Segamat, one each in Muar, Batu Pahat and Pontian.
“The infection spread within the industrial sector is also closely linked to many industrial workers who move across the state to red zone locations for vaccination purposes. To date, a total of 142 industrial clusters are still active.
“The Johor Health Department found that industrial workers who have crossed the state to the red zone locations brought back the Covid-19 virus and spread it to colleagues and housemates living in the workers’ hostels,” he said.
He was replying to a supplementary question from Abd Taib Abu Bakar (Machap-Umno) regarding the significant increase of Covid-19 cases in the state during the fourth session of the Johor State Assembly sitting at the Sultan Ismail Building, Kota Iskandar, today.
Vidyananthan said another factor is the placement of industrial workers, especially migrants in congested and crowded environments, including workers’ buses.
He said following that, the state government will always monitor the situation, especially clusters that are linked to factories through relevant agencies in addition to strengthening and reactivating the manufacturing industry in Johor through the initiatives outlined by the state Health Department.
“Factories with positive Covid-19 cases will be closed for at least 24 hours, in accordance with the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 (Act 342), to allow the health team to conduct detailed investigations, contact tracing, determine areas at risk and carry out disinfection exercises,” he said.
The vaccination drive under the Public-Private Partnership Industrial Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (Pikas) for factory workers will also be expedited to ensure that they would be vaccinated as soon as possible. – Bernama, August 22, 2021
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