Most Migrant Workers Will Return To Work By Late Aug, To Be Tested Every 14 Days

Migrant Workers Will Be Tested For Covid-19 Every 14 Days, To Prevent Resurgence

Over the past few months, work was halted for many projects due to the Covid-19 outbreak among migrant workers living in dormitories.

The multi-ministry taskforce (MTF) are currently clearing the vast majority of migrant workers for work by the end of the month, they said on Thursday (6 Aug).

This means testing them for Covid-19, and the process should be completed by Friday (7 Aug).

Meanwhile, the MTF warned that cases may fluctuate as a result.

Employers to implement safety measures at workplaces

Clearing workers so they can return to work as soon as possible is the MTF’s biggest priority, according to Education Minister Lawrence Wong.

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To facilitate this, employers will need to implement safety measures, according to The Straits Times.

They include:

• Dedicated transport between work places and accommodation
• SafeEntry and TraceTogether at work sites
• Same dorm for all workers in specific project
• No cross-deployment between projects

Workers will get tests every 14 days

The tests will continue for migrant workers every 14 days even after they return to work, said Mr Wong.

This is so that any new outbreak won’t go unnoticed before it’s too late, and also so we won’t go back to the situation in Mar.

Back then, Covid-19 spread rapidly through dormitories, largely resulting in the over-50,000 cases in Singapore currently.

Hopefully migrant workers can work in safe environment

While the majority of cases are asymptomatic and there haven’t been many deaths, there are a rising number of migrant workers in states of distress.

Hopefully, with workers being cleared to work, and their mental health being taken care of, we won’t see another surge in cases.

Featured image adapted from Facebook.