Migrant workers in dorms continue to be a point of concern, as community cases have steadily fallen but numbers in dormitories continue to fluctuate.
As such, the government shared their plans to continue the “aggressive testing” for all migrant workers living in dormitories here.
The test will include all workers regardless of whether they show symptoms or not.
In a press conference yesterday (12 May), Minister Lawrence Wong announced that all 323,000 migrant workers in dormitories across Singapore will be tested before they can return to work.
32,000 already have been so far, which is only 10% of the workers. This means that a large percentage have yet to undergo testing.
Currently, around 3,000 tests are conducted daily, but authorities hope to increase the numbers soon, reported The Straits Times (ST).
However, it could still take “several weeks” to finish testing all 323,000 of the workers, since it depends on whether they need to be isolated or quarantined too.
According to gov.sg, the Multi-Ministry Taskforce has decided to use both serological and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on the workers.
Serological tests detect past infections, and can give a positive result even for those who were infected 10 to 14 days prior. PCR tests detect current infections.
Both tests will be used for dorms with high infection rates, while only PCR testing will apply at dorms with fewer cases.
Once workers in dormitories resume work, the Government will test them on a regular basis.
This also applies to workers in the construction sector who live outside dormitories, said Mr Wong in the press conference.
The precautionary measure is to prevent clusters developing among construction workers.
Currently, testing is being carried out one dormitory at a time.
Once done and the government can determine the prevalence rate of Covid-19 among workers in dorms, they will review measures.
This could involve more isolation and quarantine for workers, if the rate is high, reports ST.
Hopefully, it won’t come to that. MS News wishes all patients a speedy recovery, and hope the overall numbers will start falling steadily soon.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
Especially when you look down from upstairs, it looks even more like a cemetery.
The victim jokingly threatened to hack the assailant, so the latter decided to get ahead…
He began serving time at age 14 after being convicted of murdering his employer.
The 21-year-old had only recently graduated from university.
Besides the boy, a 33-year-old car driver and a 61-year-old male taxi driver were also…
She was driving her daughter to school when the accident occurred.