KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 16 — Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd has screened close to 7,000 employees for Covid-19 and found 427 positive cases on one of its plant premises.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the company said all affected employees were currently receiving medical treatment at government medical facilities and all employees in the affected premises had been placed under quarantine and isolation and would undergo subsequent screening.

It said the affected plant premises were temporarily closed to carry out disinfection and sanitisation procedures and were expected to resume operations in stages starting from December 21, 2020.

"As a result of the temporary closure of the affected plant premise (sic), the capacity loss is estimated to be less than one per cent of the total annual output volume. Other production facilities at different locations are operating normally,” it said.

It said the screening exercise of its employees, both for foreign and local, was carried out since December 4, 2020, in line with the directive of the National Security Council (MKN).

The company said it covered all plant premises and corporate offices in Klang, Selangor, and was expected to be completed by tomorrow (December 17).

Notwithstanding the above, Kossan said its operations had strictly adhered to the standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by MKN and the Health Ministry and continued to undertake precautionary and preventive measures for Covid-19 as part of the business continuity management.

It added that the company would continue to monitor the situation and provide updates on the matter. — Bernama