KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — A total of 888,000 foreign workers in high-risk areas are required to undergo Covid-19 screening which has started since Tuesday (Dec 1), says Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said for the first phase, 100,000 Antigen Rapid Test Kits (RTK-Ag) would be distributed to the areas in Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Sabah and Labuan.

"In the first 48 hours, 367 private clinics and hospitals in the respective areas had registered for the programme. At the same time, 19,975 RTK-Ag Test Kids were distributed for the screening of foreign workers,” he said in a special news conference, here, today.

Also present was Human Resource Minister, Datuk Seri M. Saravanan.

Ismail Sabri, who is also the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers chairman, said the Human Resource Ministry would collaborate with the Health Ministry to obtain more Covid-19 screening test kits to be used in the programme.

Bernama previously reported that the ministry would carry out targeted Covid-19 screening of foreign workers in the red zones with a high population of foreign workers from Dec 1.

The programme is carried out by the Social Security Organisation (Socso), in collaboration with private clinics and hospitals to ensure comprehensive implementation. — Bernama