KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — Senior Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri said that the National Security Council has directed the Human Resource Ministry to provide more effective measures to prevent Covid-19 among foreign workers.

Yesterday, the Health Ministry reported 460 new Covid-19 cases involving foreign workers from one construction site here alone.

Ismail Sabri noted that there were over 1.7 million foreign workers registered in Malaysia and that the HR Ministry has been tasked with improving the standard operating procedures covering the group.

"We have asked the Human Resources ministry to look into how we can better control the movement of foreign workers, as well as the feasibility of conducting swab tests to each and every one of them,” he said in a press conference today.

Ismail also said the ministry was asked to consider expanding the SOPs to beyond foreign workers in the construction and security sectors.

Issues that needed attention include whether there should be mass testing of foreign workers, who should bear the cost, and whether there was sufficient testing capacity to implement such a policy.

The ministry was also directed to develop a plan to restrict foreign worker movement and reduce the risk of community transmissions, he said.

"We will have to discuss all this in detail with the Human Resource Ministry,” he said.