New Covid-19 Case Found In Workers’ Dorm, MOM Says Safety Measures Not Strictly Enforced

New Covid-19 Case Found In Workers’ Dorm On 28 Sep, Entire Block Sent For Quarantine

While Singapore has been reporting declining numbers of Covid-19 cases lately, we’ve yet to fully eradicate the virus from migrant worker dormitories.

New cases continue to be found there daily, and when they do, the residents there have to be quarantined.

That’s what happened at Space @ Tuas, when a new Covid-19 case was detected there — all 342 workers in the block were moved out as safety measures were not strictly enforced.

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New case found in Tuas dorm

In a press release on Thursday (1 Oct), the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said a new Covid-19 case was found on Monday (28 Sep) at the Space @ Tuas dormitory on Tuas Avenue 1.

This was found through Rostered Routine Testing (RRT), which takes place every 14 days for workers in dorms.

Once it was found, workers in 2 blocks were immediately given Stay-Home Notices (SHN), as there was concern that the separation between the blocks may have been breached.

However, the SHN for workers in 1 block was rescinded, as it was deemed unlikely that the workers from different blocks could intermingle.

Photo for illustration purposes only.
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Safe Living Measures not strictly enforced

However, it was found that the block that the infected worker was staying had lapses in ensuring Safe Living Measures were followed.

Some of these measures include:

1. Tightening control of the dorm’s entrance and exit
2. Limiting intermixing of workers
3. Strengthening health monitoring
4. Facilitating contact tracing

Because these measures weren’t strictly enforced, all the residents in the block were deemed to be at risk.

342 migrant workers put under quarantine

Thus, 342 migrant workers, all living in the same block, were put under quarantine for 14 days.

They were moved to a Government Quarantine Facility on Wednesday (30 Sep).

These workers have 27 different employers, whose operations will likely be affected as their worker won’t be able to work.

If strict safety measures had been enforced, fewer workers would have had to be quarantined — the infected worker’s section or level only, and definitely not the entire block.

Photo for illustration purposes only.
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MOM urges all to comply

MOM has urges all parties to work together and comply strictly with the Safe Living Measures.

That applies to dorm operators, employers, and the workers themselves:

1. Dorm operators must ensure that Safe Living measures remain effective.
2. Workers must stay within their zones, and follow Safe Living Measures strictly.
3. Employers should make sure their workers comply strictly, as well as get tested regularly.

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Please don’t slack off

The safety measures may be troublesome, but strict compliance is the only way that Covid-19 doesn’t come back to our dorms with a vengeance.

If we slack off, we’ve already seen the negative consequences — more workers remain out of action for weeks, and companies’ operations are disrupted and revenue is lost.

For the sake of Singapore’s economy and general well-being, please don’t slack off.

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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.