Earlier today (21 July), the Ministry of Manpower released a statement announcing that 69 more migrant worker dormitories have been cleared of COVID-19 with effect from today.
According to the statement, this comprises three Purpose-Built Dormitories (PBD), 59 Factory-Converted Dormitories and seven Construction Temporary Quarters. The Ministry added that 41 Blocks for Recovered Workers (BRW) in 11 PBDs had been cleared.
It was reported that the 41 BRWs that were cleared today included the remaining blocks in Tampines Dormitory, Cochrane Lodge 1, Cochrane Lodge 2, Changi Lodge 2 and Sungei Tengah Lodge. These dormitories were officially fully cleared.
As of today, a total of 891 dormitories and 56 BRWs in 17 PBDs were revealed to have cleared of COVID-19. The statement mentioned that the largest PBD – Sungei Tengah Lodge – with approximately 16,000 workers are allowed to return to work.
“This takes the total number to 891 dormitories and 56 BRWs in 17 PBDs cleared of COVID-19. In particular, Sungei Tengah Lodge is the largest PBD with around 16,000 workers, all of whom can immediately return to work if their employers have obtained approval from their sector agencies to restart operations.”
The Ministry stated that some workers are “pending movement to appropriate accommodations” before they return to work. Others will be allowed to return work once dormitory operators, employers and workers have made the necessary preparations for the workers to go to work on a daily basis.
Lastly, the Inter-agency Task Force was reported to be “progressively implementing” additional decontamination measures to allow more recovered workers from uncleared blocks or dormitories to resume work safely, according to the statement.
“The ITF is also progressively implementing the additional decontamination measures to allow more recovered workers from uncleared blocks/dormitories to resume work safely, without compromising public health.”