Almost Half of All Migrant Workers Living in Dorm Have Had a COVID-19 Infection Before

When Covid-19 first landed on Singapore’s shores, we were handling the situation quite well.

The number of cases was low, social gatherings weren’t illegal, and we were even praised by the World Health Organisation for our contact tracing capabilities.

But then things took a left turn.

We discovered that there were tens of thousands of hidden infections among migrant workers in dormitories.

This wasn’t their fault, of course. They lived in cramped and unsanitary spaces, with some rooms even infested with cockroaches.

Now, it seems that the portion of migrant workers who contracted the virus is much larger than we thought.

Almost Half of All Migrant Workers Living in Dorm Have Had a COVID-19 Infection Before

Nearly half of migrant workers living in dormitories have contracted the coronavirus, the authorities said on Monday (14 Dec).

According to The Straits Times, 54,505 migrant workers have tested positive for the virus through a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

Another 98,289 tested positive for a serology test, which looks for antibodies in your blood, meaning you had a previous infection.

In total, 152,794 workers in dorms have contracted Covid-19 at some point this year since it spread to Singapore.

This accounts for 47% of all dormitory residents in Singapore, which as my maths teacher once taught me, is almost half.

But, believe it or not, this number could go up.

Serology tests for some 65,000 workers in dorms who had not taken them before are still being carried out.

High Infection Rate, Low Morbidity & Mortality

While the rate of infection among workers in dormitories has been high, the morbidity and mortality rates among them are very low.

According to a joint statement by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Ministry of Health (MOH), the vast majority of workers in dorms who tested positive were asymptomatic or had very mild symptoms.

In fact, only around one in five workers living in such dorms had symptoms.

Testing, Testing, Testing

Given the explosion of Covid-19 cases in dorms earlier in the year, the authorities had to act fast to curb the spread before it spiralled out of control.

And thankfully, that’s exactly what they did, by increasing their testing capabilities.

By August, all migrant workers living in dormitories had been tested at least once for the coronavirus.

This repeated testing and quarantining led to a rapid dwindling of Covid-19 cases in dormitories until 13 Oct, when no new infections were detected in dorms for the first time since 25 March.

And less than a month later, 98% of dormitory residents had been cleared to resume work.

Speaking at a press conference by the Covid-19 multi-ministry task force, Second Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng thanked the 3,000 officers and volunteers who helped contain the outbreak in dormitories, as well as the workers themselves.

“We could not have contained this virus without the determination, the cooperation, the patience and the understanding of the migrant workers in the dormitories,” he said.

There still remains, however, a regular testing regime for all migrant workers, to prevent another outbreak from forming.

Prevention is better than cure, after all.

Featured Image: edphi / Shutterstock.com