90 Migrant Worker Dormitories Given All-Clear For Covid-19 Infections
Since the start of April, the Covid-19 outbreak in migrant worker dormitories became a great cause of concern. Our daily numbers were swelling exponentially as the government aggressively conducted screening to stop the spread.
About 2 months later, there’s hope for Singapore to ease into a recovery phase, as a total of 90 dormitories are now free of Covid-19.
After 60 dorms were cleared of infections earlier this month, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced yesterday (10 Jun) another 30 have been given the all-clear.
30 dormitories cleared, houses about 8,400 workers
According to their media release, MOM said 30 more dormitories were added to the list of cleared dormitories on 9 Jun.
About 8,400 residents live in these dormitories, which comprise:
- 1 purpose-built dormitory
- 29 factory-converted dormitories or construction temporary quarters.
Residents from first batch of 60 dormitories cleared can resume work
Last week, the first batch of 60 dormitories were declared to be Covid-free.
Since then, dorm operators, employers and migrant workers have made necessary preparations so that they can resume work safely:
- Dorm operators need to plan for staggered pick-up and drop-off timings
- Employers need to confirm residential addresses of their workers in MOM database
- Workers need to download FWMOMCare and TraceTogether apps.
These apps would be useful for workers to update their health status, report where they stay to match with employers and dorm operators’ records, as well as contact tracing.
40 out of the 60 dormitories have completed the aforementioned steps, MOM revealed. Since then, some of the 5,500 residents have already started working again.
Hopeful that Singapore is on the right track
Dormitories in Singapore were seen as hotbeds for Covid-19 infections, hence it is good news that as many as 90 dorms are now cleared.
With citizens getting anxious over Phase 2’s start date, hopefully, this is a sign we’re on the right track.
As long as authorities and residents stay vigilant with preventive efforts, we’re confident the time will come sooner rather than later.
Hopefully, we’ll see more dormitories getting cleared of the coronavirus in the next few weeks, and the commencement of Phase 2 soon.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
