MORE than 50 Aurum Theatre employees are worried about their well-being, after management refuses to shut operations despite detecting 10 Covid-19 cases among staff.

The Malaysian Insight was informed that employees of the luxurious cinema, located at The Gardens Mall, were told to work despite many being close contacts to those found positive.

A worker who spoke on condition of anonymity said she was merely told to self-test and clock in.

The staff are upset with management’s refusal to temporarily close the cinema, she added.

“We are all frustrated with the area manager, who refuses to take this matter seriously.

“We are told to come to work despite workers being found positive and many of us are close contact. We have families at home and are worried about their safety, too.

“We want the area manager to close the cinema for five to seven days, so we can quarantine.

“We are angry and frustrated with her refusal to take this matter seriously.”

The Malaysian Insight learnt that the latest positive case was recorded this morning.

The index case involves a cook at the cinema and was detected on February 12. So far, eight others have been infected.

“The first case involved a cook, which is an important section (the kitchen),” said the staff.

“From there, two to three more cooks tested positive and (the virus) spread to others.”

She said several close contacts who received the home surveillance order via MySejahtera have also been told to clock in.

Another worker said management has not informed the company’s chief executive officer of the latest case.

He said the CEO had ordered all employees to take a Covid-19 test last year, when a staffer was infected.

“The CEO is someone who takes this matter seriously. Last year, all of us had to take a Covid-19 test and the cinema was temporarily closed.

“But the CEO came to check on the kitchen today, which clearly shows that he was not notified of the current situation.”

He told The Malaysian Insight that employees at the cinema have no access to the CEO to report the matter.

“We cannot tell him what is happening. If we have a way, we would have told him.”

When contacted, area manager Ai Ling said the cinema is still operating as cases only occurred in the kitchen.

“There is no need to close the whole cinema as cases started from the kitchen. That is why only our restaurant is closed.”

She said infected staff are told to isolate and return to work only after testing negative.

“It is not true that all have to work. If they test negative, they can come back to work.”

Lodging a police report

Another staff, who is upset with the whole episode, said a police report may be lodged against the area manager tomorrow.

The area manager is wrong to force workers to work despite knowing the risk, she added.

“We are all afraid for our safety. Cases are on the rise and we are still working, exposing ourselves and others to the virus.

“We have discussed lodging a police report as we feel that this is against the law. Some are still recuperating.

“Cleaners, who have nothing to do with kitchen tasks, are told to work as cooks to cover up for those absent.

“This is absurd. If you cannot operate because of staff shortage, just shut down for a while.”

The employees quoted in this story declined to be identified as they do not want to face action from management.

Malaysia reported 26,701 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, the second highest figure this year.

The highest this year was the 27,831 cases on Wednesday.

The total number of active cases now stand at 217,782.

According to the CovidNow portal, 39 deaths were reported yesterday, of which 17 are dead on arrival. – February 18, 2022.