Fear Grips Workers At Klang Glove Factory Amid Covid 19 Outbreak

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Top Glove, the world's largest glovemaker which has played an instrumental role in supplying medical frontliners with personal protective equipment in the fight against Covid-19, is now finding the pandemic at its doorsteps.
The Teratai cluster, which is linked to Top Glove's facilities in Meru, Klang, saw 53 new cases today, bringing the total infections to 214.
Health Ministry data showed the cluster is not limited to Meru, where some 20 of Top Glove's factories and its workers' hostels are located, but also includes other districts such as Kuala Selangor, Petaling and Hulu Langat.
However, it has not provided data on how many of those cases are directly linked to the factory workers.
For the workers who are keeping the glove factory running, walking through its gates every day is a daunting task.
Workers at the factory who spoke to Malaysiakini on condition of anonymity said they are "really scared" to go to work, fearing that they may catch the virus.
To Top Glove's credit, the firm moved quickly to enforce various precautions.
But fear of the virus continues to weigh down on the workers as they see some of their colleagues sent off to hospital or quarantine centres.
"I believe they should suspend the operations. The situation is not okay.
"Right now, many have been taken to quarantine, but there are those who still have to go to work. But this is difficult (for us), as we are very scared now," said an employee.


Hundreds of Top Glove factory workers have been sent to undergo quarantine in hotels around Klang district, according to workers who spoke to Malaysiakini.
Several of them claimed that yesterday, some 300 workers were ferried by buses and vans to a hotel in the Klang city centre, which is now used as a quarantine facility.
It is one of the hotels being used to place workers who need to be tested for Covid-19. One employee said he learned that there was another hotel in Kapar that also serves as a quarantine facility.
The workers said with so many under quarantine, existing workers have been redeployed to make up for the manpower shortage.
One said that this is not something unique, as it had been the practice by factory managers to move around their workers according to operations need.
However, the outbreak may have ramped up such a need to share their workforce to keep operations going.
Some of the factories had their production lines running in half capacity only, because they are short of manpower," said the employee, who is a foreigner.
According to him, many had to be taken into isolation as Top Glove took the initiative to quarantine all close contacts of positive cases.
"Let's say if you work (in the) packing (section), and one worker tested positive, they will send the positive case to the hospital and the others to quarantine."
'Residents in fear'
The fear, however, is not only limited to workers, as nearby residents are also growing increasingly worried.

Meru assemblyperson Fakhrulrazi Mohd Mokhtar said some resident associations and NGOs have lodged police reports and signed a petition urging for the factory to temporarily close.

"The residents in Meru are really, really scared now. I also support the action by resident associations and NGOs urging for the factories to suspend their operations.
"Because we should not compromise when it comes to safety," he told Malaysiakini when contacted.
Fakhrulrazi said he had a discussion with Top Glove managing director last week, where he requested the company to restrict the movement of its workers so that they do not risk spreading Covid-19 to the public.
"We want them to control the movement of their employees. But the best is still to shut down temporarily," he stressed.


On Saturday, a death at a nearby residential area prompted a panicked request for the Fire and Rescue Department to sanitise the area.
There was no confirmation yet if the death was due to Covid-19, but it showed how residents are growing anxious over the rise of the virus in the district.
According to the Health Ministry data, Klang is the worst-hit area in Selangor with 840 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the last 14 days as of yesterday.
This was followed by the districts of Hulu Langat (816), petaling (422), Sepang (320), Kuala Langat (163) and Gombak (111).
Top Glove taking measures to contain outbreak
Meanwhile, Top Glove, when contacted, assured that it is striving to create a safe working environment amid the pandemic.
"Our operations in Malaysia are in strict alignment with the guidelines issued by the relevant Malaysian authorities.
"We continue to emphasise the importance of safe work practices, including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) which all our employees continue to adhere to strictly," said the company in a statement yesterday.
The company said they have heightened the measures on Nov 12, including to limit the movement of employees to "absolutely essential" such as commuting to work and purchasing necessity items.
This was confirmed by one of the employees who spoke to Malaysiakini, saying that workers are no longer allowed to go out and travels are strictly limited between their hostel and workstation.
Top Glove has also set up isolation houses for its employees who are placed under quarantine, where their movements are strictly monitored.
Factories and accommodations for employees are disinfected three times daily, the statement added.
"We reiterate that we are constantly monitoring the evolving situation and adapting our efforts and responses accordingly towards protecting the safety and well-being of all concerned.
"To end, we are working closely with the relevant authorities and stakeholders to focus on recovery and prevention. We are confident that we, our employees and the communities we serve, will effectively manage this situation by working together," it said.

Top Glove claimed that their operations remain unaffected by the outbreak. However, the company has yet to respond to Malaysiakini's query on the exact figure of their employees who have been tested positive and those identified as close contacts. - Mkini

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