HomeUncategorized Pre-Emptive Measures Ongoing to Detect and Isolate Covid-19 Infection in Dormitories

Pre-Emptive Measures Ongoing to Detect and Isolate Covid-19 Infection in Dormitories

May 31, 2021 By Admin No comments yet

  1. termine if they are old or current infections.
  2. MOH updated yesterday on the COVID-19 positive cases from Westlite Woodlands Dormitory.  24 recovered workers were found to be positive for COVID-19. These cases were immediately isolated and conveyed to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID). Of the 24 cases, 11 cases have been assessed to be shedding virus fragments of old infections, and five are likely to be cases of COVID-19 re-infection. Two more cases have been determined to be negative for COVID-19 upon re-testing, and the remaining six cases are pending assessment by the expert panel. This illustrates that most COVID-19 positive cases among recovered workers may be assessed to be old infections.
  3. Precautionary steps have also been taken to protect workers who are well and curtail the risk of transmission. Access to in-dormitory communal facilities and Recreation Centres (RCs) is still permitted but will be regulated to reduce the inter-mixing of workers. Movement between dormitory blocks continue to be disallowed and compliance to Safe Management Measures (SMM) have been stepped up. Workers have also been advised to cease social interactions with others who do not reside in the same room or floor. BCA has also stepped up inspections on SMMs at construction worksites.
    Support Measures
  4. MOM would like to assure all affected migrant workers that access to 24/7 medical assistance remains available. Comprehensive measures are also in place to look after the mental well-being of the affected workers. This includes counselling hotlines in migrant workers’ native languages as well as care avenues available. We are also coordinating support from our NGO partners to provide virtual calls and care packs to the affected workers.
  5. In addition to protecting their health and safety, these measures seek to assure our migrant workers that their livelihoods will be safeguarded. Affected workers will continue to be paid their salaries for the duration of the quarantine, and their period of absence from work will be treated as paid hospitalisation leave as part of workers’ leave eligibility under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA).
  6. MOM appreciates the contributions and the cooperation of our migrant workers, as we do our best to protect them by decisively managing potential clusters of infection from forming. Measures such as quarantine are not conducted for longer than necessitated by public health reasons. MOM seeks the cooperation of employers and dormitory operators to continue to remain vigilant, adhere strictly to SMMs in dormitories and worksites, and to send workers for RRT timely, so as to safeguard the lives and protect the livelihoods of our migrant workers.

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