16,000 foreign workers yet to be scheduled for routine Covid-19 testing ahead of Sept 5 deadline: Govt agencies

SINGAPORE — About 16,000 workers who are required to undergo the fortnightly Rostered Routine Testing to weed out the Covid-19 coronavirus have yet to be scheduled by their employers to undergo the tests.

In a joint statement on Friday (Sept 4), the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the Building and Construction Authority, the Economic Development Board and the Health Promotion Board (HPB) said that such workers risk having their AccessCode Status reflected as “red”.

“They will not be able to return to work,” the authorities warned.

MOM, together with the government agencies, said that they have been engaging employers to schedule their workers for the routine tests for the past month.

All migrant workers living in dormitories, those employed in the construction, marine and process sectors, as well as those who have to go into work sites are required to undergo the tests every 14 days.

The authorities said that employers had been reminded on Aug 22 that “all workers who are required to undergo Rostered Routine Testing must have completed a swab test in the preceding 14 days and started their 14-day Rostered Routine Testing cycle by Sept 5”.

“Agencies have also stepped up efforts to directly contact employers via calls and emails to prompt them to schedule their workers for Rostered Routine Testing before the deadline,” they said.

The authorities warned that unresponsive employers who have persistently failed to schedule their workers for the test may have their work pass privileges curtailed.

They stressed again that employers of these workers should quickly schedule appointment slots for their workers on HPB’s Swab Registration System to avoid disruption to their business operations.

“Once workers have been scheduled under the Swab Registration System for the first time, they will be automatically assigned new dates for future Rostered Routine Testing swabs,” they said.

The authorities said that it is the shared responsibility of the workers, employers and dormitory operators to prevent, arrest and contain the risk of Covid-19 transmissions and infections.

“Rostered Routine Testing is a critical part of the effort to detect Covid-19 early and to contain its spread. It has already proven its value in recent weeks, in detecting cases among previously cleared workers,” they said.