Virus outbreak in Singapore migrant worker dormitory threatens resumption

As many companies are confused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore is expediting re-entry to the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who have been locked down in dorms for months, and Virus.

However, reoccurrence in the settlements of migrant workers can complicate the process of getting them back in business and impact the recovery of wealthy city-states from the worst economic downturn.

On 13th July 2020, a man stands behind a fence in a closed dormitory for foreign workers. (Joint)

About 94% of approximately 57,000 COVID-19 infections in Singapore occur among migrant workers living in overcrowded dormitories.

On April 21, after a major dormitory outbreak, the government completely closed all dormitories.

As a result, more than 300,000 migrant workers, who were staying in about 1,200 dormitories, were left behind in the building and relied heavily on construction and other large projects to halt.

The number of cases in the dormitory continued to deteriorate after the lockdown, and the photos distributed on social media on May 21 revealed the dark side of the dormitory life and worsened hygiene. It has expanded from about 7,000 cases to 27,000 cases. Living Conditions-Considered to be very vulnerable to large outbreaks.

With Singapore heavily dependent on 1.4 million foreign workers, which make up about 40% of its total workforce, the blockade of dormitories puts a heavy burden on the economy and faces the worst recession.

On 13 July 2020, blocked migrant workers will form a queue in Singapore dormitories for food. (Joint)

About four months later, on August 19, the government declared that all dormitories housing migrant workers were “cleared” for COVID-19, but one of the harsh conditions imposed to reopen the dormitories. The department will be relaxed, more workers will resume work, and “accelerate” the resumption of construction work.

However, a series of recent outbreaks have threatened to put spanners in the plans to allow migrant workers to resume work.

Recently, the Ministry of Human Resources announced that a new cluster erupted in Singapore’s largest dormitory, Sungai Tenga Lodge, but new infections have spread to several other dormitories.

Many of the migrant workers staying in the dormitories come from poor Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh, China and other Southeast Asian countries. They were struggling with tough, mean jobs that were kept away from the locals, such as construction, cleaning, and garbage disposal, which was exacerbated by low wages due to lack of minimum wages for workers.

Debbie Fordyce, president of the non-governmental organization Transient Workers Count Too, said, “Migrant workers basically work as if they have no emotional, emotional, attachment, or social needs. They are treated like animals.”

“It’s rough,” I told Kyodo News.

So far, the dormitories have been mostly closed. The vast majority of workers receive a green access sign on the phone’s Work Pass app, but it’s not clear if everyone with it could get back to work.

Prime Minister Lee Shenlong recently mentioned the complexity of dealing with the outbreak of COVID-19 in parliamentary dormitories, saying, “We have cleared dormitories so that migrant workers are resuming work, especially in the construction industry. Is helping.”

“But this has to be done safely. The risk of a re-emerging case is still there, because it’s a complicated movement,” he said. “Making these measures work and keeping the business safe is better than suffering new outbreaks and having to shut down again.”

Many of the restrictions imposed at the height of the pandemic earlier this year are still in force.

The picture taken on July 13, 2020 shows a confined dormitory for Singapore’s migrant workers. (Joint)

Workers are allowed to leave the dormitory for work purposes or to book medical care and interact with other residents from other rooms or floors or other blocks within their dormitory grounds Is prohibited.

Their employers must also ensure that they take a cotton swab test every 14 days for coronavirus while even the wastewater coming from the dormitories is checked for early detection of the virus. Hmm.

Ray (not his real name to protect his identity), a Bangladeshi construction worker who worked in Singapore’s worst dorm in his mid-twenties, explained how he felt he could get back to work. When asked, “I can’t say. That way I’ll be like a dormitory prisoner for days. I can only go to work and can’t go anywhere else.”

But it’s better than staying in his room for at least the past four months.

“We weren’t allowed to go to work, and we couldn’t get out of the gate! I could only go to the store (on the dormitory grounds) once a week and buy dry food and cigarettes You can,” said Ray. “We worried a lot. We don’t have a job. We have food problems. We worry about the families who depend on us.”

The blockade of Singapore’s dormitories is also mentally and psychologically straining migrant workers, saying the Department of Labor is aware of recent suicide situations and suicide attempts among them.

To reduce density, Singapore has moved many migrant workers, including reconstruction workers, into old empty public housing, military camps, and even temporary housing such as windowless cruise ships and hotels and dormitories. Reduced density.

The government is planning to build more dormitories with better living conditions to prevent such recurrence, and future dormitories will provide more space for each worker and the number of beds per room You need to cap 10 out of the current 12 to 16 beds.

It’s a big challenge due to the lack of land in Singapore and the fact that many Singaporeans dislike having dormitories for migrant workers in the middle of them.

Eugene Tan, associate professor of law at Singapore Management University, said he was reluctant to improve the living conditions of migrant workers because of fears of higher costs. There is no alternative that lowers the price.” In the housing of foreign workers”

“The days of huge dedicated dormitories that accept thousands of workers are over,” he said.

Professor Xin Tien Phu, a professor at the Real Estate and Urban Research Institute at the National University of Singapore, sees future dormitories being built higher, like high-rise apartments where most Singaporeans live.

“Intensification of land is an important strategy in Singapore because of land shortage,” said Singh. “High-rise dormitory dormitories need to be more rigorous in providing and designing vertical separation and movement within blocks, and infection spreads can be contained within floor levels, reducing floor-to-floor cross-infection. I can do it.

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