By The Manpower Ministry (MOM) issued a press release yesterday (28 Jan) saying that it will start to reject all new work pass applications for foreign workers from Hubei province.
“With immediate effect, MOM will reject all new work pass applications for foreign workers from Hubei until further notice. As of today, we have rejected more than 30 new applications,” MOM said.
“Existing work pass holders from Hubei who are currently away or with recent Hubei travel history within the last 14 days should defer their return to Singapore. We expect employers to be responsible and ask these employees to defer their return until the situation stabilises.”
For those with valid work passes but have travelled to Hubei, MOM said they would be quarantined if they choose to return to Singapore.
However, MOM did not say how it would determine if a returning PRC worker with a valid work pass has really been to Hubei as the person could lie.
So far, the three latest confirmed Wuhan viral cases over the past 24 hours have been PRCs coming from Hubei. According to the PRC authorities, 95 per cent of confirmed cases in Chinese cities were recently in Hubei, confirming that the infection has spread most widely in that province.
Singapore has yet to experience the virus spreading among the community here thus far.