A medical worker stores a Covid-19 swab sample for testing. — Bernama photo
KUCHING (Aug 30): An employer here is seeking a clarification from the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) and Ministry of Health (MOH) on whether some Covid-19 close contacts and quarantine orders are genuine.
The employee said when he went for a swab test, he was able to obtain a full quarantine order despite his name not listed in the declared close contacts of his Covid-19 positive colleague. When questioned, the employee requested the colleague to update his close contact list by adding his name, which the colleague did a day later.
The employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said the process must be streamlined and standardised in all swab centres. This is to avoid any abuse of the contact tracking system which may cause employers and businesses to suffer from loss of man-days and business operations from non-genuine close contacts.
“Not only must the health officers at the test centre double check if names of the concerned persons appear in their system, but they must also provide standardised quarantine letters with the order stating the date of last contact with positive persons (and not date of the reporting time. They must also differentiate between close and casual contacts who do not require quarantine.”
“To avoid abuses by irresponsible employees, for any workplace close contact, it is the employer that should be the one releasing letter upon interviewing and verifying the close contacts with supervisors and work schedules. The staff should not be allowed to simply provide names of any colleagues to the Health Department.”
“This is to avoid any abuse and scheming among staff, with the intention to cheat the company because each quarantine for close contact is up to 17 days per staff and they still enjoy paid salary.”
“SMEs and businesses with a large workforce will face serious operational issue if irresponsible employees intend to abuse the system,” she pointed out.
She then urged Health officers to verify with the approved and verified list of workplace close contacts with the employer before issuing the full quarantine orders to any person that undergoes a swab at the one stop centres.
“While it is reasonably understood to take safety precautions by taking swabs, it is noted that anyone can walk in for swab any time and obtain a three-day quarantine order. However, if irresponsible workers simply declare they are close contacts to their colleagues and managed to obtain a 17 days’ quarantine order, the consequence would be detrimental to business productivity, daily operations and integrity of the Health Ministry’s system” she added.
“It is my hope that the authority makes a stand on this matter to maintain integrity in the system,” she stressed.