KUALA LUMPUR (May 6): The Ministry of Health (MoH) updated today that it has so far screened 22,339 foreigners, including workers, for COVID-19 and that 986 or 4.4% have been found positive.

Compared to the data it released on April 30, there has been an increase of 1,068 individuals tested, and an increase of 175 positive cases from 811 previously.

Currently, these 986 cases account for about 15.3% of the 6,428 total COVID-19 confirmed cases in the country as of today.

MoH director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said almost half or 457 of the 986 cases are still undergoing treatment including four patients under intensive care units (ICU); 431 others have recovered and been discharged from hospitals, while four have succumbed to the illness. The fatalities make up 3.7% of the country's 107 death toll from the coronavirus.

"We will continue to conduct tests on foreign workers, especially in the red zones in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. Our focus now is on foreign workers in red zones first," he said during his daily COVID-19 press briefing.

Dr Noor Hisham announced yesterday that foreign workers in the red zones have been categorised as one of the high-risk groups to be focused on for COVID-19 screenings as part of the Ministry's targeted approach.

Previously, the targeted or high-risk groups were attendees of the Sri Petaling Tabligh gathering — which remains the largest COVID-19 cluster to date — and those from tahfiz schools.

"The main issue that we see [with foreign workers] is that they are staying in cramped houses. They may work in different sectors but they live together. So the issue is that their lodgings may be too crowded because there are too many people staying there. So, we have to conduct screenings on all of them," Dr Noor Hisham said.

He also acknowledged that there are about 2.5 million registered foreign workers nationwide, but he assured that the Ministry is now focused on screening such workers in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. "It will take time, surely, but at least we are able to screen them," he added.

See also: https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/health-dg-147-people-ran-away-quarantine-centre