EMERITUS Professor Datuk Dr Lam Sai Kit has reminded the government to ensure new detainees are tested negative for Covid-19 before they are sent to immigration detention centres to avoid spreading the virus at these depots.
The eminent local virologist gave the reminder in an interview with China Press following the emergence of Covid-19 clusters in several detention centres lately.
He pointed out that any large gatherings such as conferences, religious activities or poor accommodation conditions could spark Covid-19 clusters, such as the international conference in Singapore, the tabligh gathering in Malaysia, Ampang construction site, Kuching church gathering, and the Selayang wholesale market case.
“Now, we’ve added three detention centre clusters (Bukit Jalil, Semenyih and Sepang). More than 2,000 migrants are held in each of these centres, where dozens of them share a dormitory.
“These (clusters) should serve as a warning to the government that it should look seriously at detention centres as potential hotbeds for virus transmission.”
Lam pointed out that common areas at detention centres such as toilets, kitchens and recreation facilities have many points of contact where virus can be spread easily and where limited space makes social distancing almost impossible.
He said apart from detainees, wardens should also be screened for Covid-19 to avoid spreading the virus to the detainees.
Asked if more clusters would break out among migrant workers in Malaysia, like what happened in Singapore, Lam said the situation in Singapore is more serious because thousands of its foreign workers are housed in each dormitories.
Therefore, he said, our government must ensure that the conditions at living quarters for foreign workers are reasonable.
“This is the responsibility of employers. (But) The government must be strict in its enforcement regarding the health and welfare of foreign workers.
“We have seen the consequences (regarding Covid-19 transmissions) of not properly looking after foreign workers,” he said, adding “we must be practical, as there could be other pandemics in the future.”
“We must change our methods of handling (pandemics) now,” he added.
Describing illegal workers going into hiding to avoid arrest as another potential spark for new clusters, Lam urged the government to rethink the strategy of rounding up illegal migrant workers during the pandemic to ensure that they come forward voluntarily for Covid-19 screening.
He also urged Malaysians not to point fingers at foreign workers who tested positive for Covid-19 as they would not have been victims had they been provided with good working and living conditions in the first place.
