As companies are inviting workers to come back to their cubicles, office clusters are inevitable. While it is important for employers to keep the government updated when their workers contracted Covid-19, there are employers who hide their employees’ Covid-19 positive status for fear of not being able to operate at full capacity.

This finding was stated by Malaysia’s human resources minister M Saravanan on Saturday (Jan 9). He said there were still some companies that refused to make reports on their employees who tested positive for Covid-19, Bernama reports.

“I have given a warning to the related companies. There are also positive cases but (the employers) do not inform the health ministry for fear they will not be able to operate,” he added.

He said such a move was not wise, given the fact that the country is still at war with a pandemic. “I urge employers if there is a positive case, please inform the health ministry (for further action),” Mr. Saravanan said.

See also: Majority Workers in India Worried about Going Back to Office Without COVID-19 Vaccine

On the people’s concerns about their jobs after the rumor that the movement control order (MCO) would be reimposed soon, Mr. Saravanan said that the government was thinking of the best way to curb the spread of the pandemic following the sharp increase in new cases.

“(Whatever steps that the government will take) will not succeed if there is no support from all parties. Recently, an employer association had said it was not appropriate to reimpose MCO.

“We see there are two crises (occurring), the first one is economic due to the implementation of MCO and the second one is the health crisis. The government is doing its best,” he said.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to make a special announcement on Monday regarding the action to be taken by the government to deal with the recent spike in Covid-19 cases.

Read also: Asian Workers are Desperate to Get Back to the Office, Demanding Hybrid Workplace Model