14 April 2020

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Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a video message....that the government has been responding "comprehensively" to improve the welfare of foreign workers and contain the transmission of Covid-19 in their living quarters.

Moreover, worker salaries would be paid by employers and their medical needs would be provided for, he said.

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Authorities have since worked to remedy poor conditions in the dormitories with a new multi-agency task force...tasked with establishing medical facilities and triage clinics at the dorms, as well as managing food supplies and housekeeping.

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More than 5,000 workers have reportedly been moved to temporary accommodation, including vacant public housing flats, multi-storey car parks, military barracks and offshore floating lodgings used in the marine and offshore industry, in an effort to reduce high-risk population density in the dormitories.

"In order to quickly control [virus spread at] the dormitory, we need to separate the dormitory workers as quickly as possible," said Leong at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital. "The more we test them, the better we can control. It is imperative that we detect people even if they have mild symptoms.

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