800 workers newly quarantined after discovery of Covid-19 patient in cleared dormitory

SINGAPORE — About 800 migrant workers have been newly quarantined because the Ministry of Health (MOH) discovered a Covid-19 case among them in a cleared dormitory.

The MOH said on Wednesday (Aug 12) that the quarantined workers are among about 22,800 who are still serving out their quarantine period.

"These workers will be tested when their quarantine ends, and we expect the case counts to remain high in the coming days, before tapering down thereafter," MOH said.

TODAY has asked the ministry which dormitory the case came from.

All migrant workers living in dormitories have been tested for Covid-19, the Manpower Ministry (MOM) said in a joint statement with several other government agencies on Tuesday. In the joint statement, the agencies said that there had already been instances where new cases were detected at previously cleared dormitories.

The agencies did not provide details of these new cases but they said that the Interagency Task Force is actively monitoring the dormitories to manage the risk of new outbreaks. This is done through various safeguards including requiring workers to monitor their own health and regular routine testing of workers in higher risk settings. 

Separately, MOM said that with effect from Tuesday, all dormitories here had been declared cleared of Covid-19, with the exception of 17 standalone blocks in six purpose-built dormitories which serve as quarantine centres.

On Wednesday, the authorities said that they are starting small-scale trials this month for residents in selected cleared dormitories to visit recreation centres on their rest days, so that they may run personal errands such as buying groceries, Sim cards and remitting money.

MOH on Wednesday confirmed 42 new cases of Covid-19, including 11 that are imported and one that is in the community. The remaining 30 are migrant workers staying in dormitories.