Singapore quarantines 342 migrant workers after new COVID-19 case at dormitory

The 342 migrants have been placed for 14 days at a government quarantine facility since September 30, a mandatory requirement. Stay-home notices were earlier issued to workers staying at the two blocks at Space@Tuas dormitory, after a preliminary assessment indicated that physical segregation measures to prevent intermixing across the two blocks "could have been breached", the MOM said.

Singapore has quarantined 342 migrant workers living at a dormitory where a new COVID-19 case was confirmed following the routine testing. Safe living measures were "not strictly enforced" in the Space@Tuas dormitory's affected block where the case lived, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Thursday.

"As such, 342 residents, who work for 27 employers, living in the affected block were deemed at risk and needed to be quarantined," the ministry said in a statement. The 342 migrants have been placed for 14 days at a government quarantine facility since September 30, a mandatory requirement.

Stay-home notices were earlier issued to workers staying at the two blocks at Space@Tuas dormitory after a preliminary assessment indicated that physical segregation measures to prevent intermixing across the two blocks "could have been breached", the MOM said. "Upon further investigation, it was established that it was unlikely for workers from different blocks to have intermixed. The stay-home notice for the unaffected block was therefore rescinded," it said.

The MOM urged all dormitory operators, employers, and workers to comply with strict safe living measures within the dormitories. Meanwhile, Singapore reported 21 new COVID-19 cases including 15 imported infections on Thursday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

There were three community infections who are Singaporeans or permanent residents (foreigners) living outside the dormitories for foreign workers. The 15 imported cases were placed on stay-home notice upon their arrival in Singapore, said the MOH.

The rest of the cases were from dormitories for migrant workers. This is the highest number of daily imported cases since August 15, when 16 imported infections were reported.

The four imported coronavirus infected cases, reported on Wednesday, came from India and Indonesia on September 12 and 25. They are serving 14-day SHN. Forty-one CVOID-19 patients are in hospital while 209 are isolated and cared for at a community facility for mild symptoms as of Wednesday.

With 22 discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, 57,488 patients have recovered from the disease so far. In a video address to a high-level event at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat spoke about Singapore's support for "vaccine multilateralism".

"Every country is doing its best to contain the spread of the virus, and to cushion the impact of the pandemic on businesses, workers and households. But no place can truly be safe until every place is safe," Channel News Asia reported quoting Heng. "Countries must therefore work together to fight this pandemic. This is our only way to overcome the crisis," he added.

Separately, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said on Wednesday that Singapore will lift border restrictions for some visitors from Australia, excluding Victoria state, and Vietnam from October 8, after doing so for Brunei and New Zealand earlier this month. The two countries have successfully controlled the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the risk of importation is low, the authority said.

From Thursday, foreigners who are short-term visitors traveling from Vietnam and Australia, excluding Victoria state, may apply for an Air Travel Pass to seek entry into Singapore. Travel will be allowed from October 8. At the same time, Singapore will also update its travel advisory to allow travel to Australia (excluding Victoria state) and Vietnam, said CAAS.