Remember back when the authorities said all the dormitories are cleared except for a few standalone blocks?
A single case caused 800 workers to walk right back into isolation.
Now imagine if a hundred cases were discovered in cleared dormitories.
Well, that’s actually what happened so far.
About 100 Migrant Workers Tested Positive in Cleared Dorms
On 18 Aug, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced that 100 new Covid-19 cases popped up from the cleared dormitories so far.
Some of these workers, who stayed in purpose-built dormitories, factory-converted ones as well as temporary lodgings, had already gone back to work.
Because of these 100 cases, an additional 7,000 migrant workers had to go back into isolation, although it was added that less than 2% tested positive after.
How They Were Detected
Remember back when the authorities said there must be safety measures implemented on the employers’ part, one of which includes scheduling for their workers to undergo a swab test every 14 days?
It was this bi-weekly routine that caught these 100 cases, the ministries said.
Overall, seven in ten employers made use of the system to get their workers tested every two weeks, and over 100,000 migrant workers have been tested.
Currently, there are 18,600 migrant workers who are still in isolation
The Steps Taken After A Case Is Identified
Both ministries assured that there is a “strict procedure” to be followed every time a case is identified:
- The entire block that the migrant worker is living in goes back into quarantine
- Every worker has to undergo the Covid-19 swab test
- Workers who are deemed as “not-at-risk” will be allowed out of isolation
Overkill? Yes, but entirely reasonable, in the authorities’ minds.
While the tradeoff is losing a few hundred migrant worker manpower with a single case, the ministries felt it was a fair exchange in order to ensure that the coronavirus is contained so that thousands will not be affected.
A Reminder Not To Be Complacent
The ministries also want to take this chance to remind Singaporeans not to be complacent.
This means no eating out in a group of more than 20, insisting on not wearing a mask when taking the public transport or obeying the mask-wearing rule only when you see enforcement officers around.
As the migrant workers have shown, just because everyone thinks that the worst is over doesn’t mean they really are.
And as Miss Grace Fu, the new discipline mistress of Singapore has shown, the authorities can always take away our privileges.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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