Covid-19 testing completed for all migrant workers in dormitories

All migrant workers living in dormitories have been tested for Covid-19, the Manpower Ministry (MOM) said in a joint statement with other government agencies on Tuesday (Aug 11).

A joint statement with the Building and Construction Authority, the Economic Development Board and the Health Promotion Board (HPB), noted that employers of migrant workers must arrange tests for their employees every 14 days at either a regional screening centre or at test centres in dormitories.

It added that employers should space out the testing of their workers over the 14-day period to ensure that the ministry is able to constantly monitor the Covid-19 situation among migrant workers.

Last week, it was announced that all foreign workers in dormitories will be cleared by Friday (Aug 7) although the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases will fluctuate for the next two weeks, said Mr Lawrence Wong, the co-chair of the ministerial task force to tackle the pandemic.

He added that confirmed Covid-19 cases are then expected to “taper down significantly” after that.

There were 908 new coronavirus cases confirmed as of Wednesday noon (Aug 5), taking Singapore’s total to 54,254.

The vast majority are dormitory residents who were tested during their isolation or quarantine period, even though they are asymptomatic, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

Singapore reported 61 new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, the first time in slightly over four months that the daily case count has dropped into the double digit range.

As of Monday (Aug 10), Covid-19 cases in dormitories made up about 94.7 per cent of Singapore’s total of 55,292 cases. The rest of the cases comprise 2,193 cases in the community and 760 imported cases. /TISG