Cleaner but still crowded, say recovered foreign workers returning to ‘virus-free’ dorms

SINGAPORE — As the number of Covid-19 cases in foreign worker dormitories began to spike in early April, Westlite Toh Guan Dormitory was one of the first two dorms — along with S11 Dormitory @ Punggol — to be gazetted by the Ministry of Health (MOH) as isolation areas on April 5.

Today, it is taking steps towards normalcy, with one out of its eight blocks degazetted on June 10 after being cleared of the coronavirus. 

There are now 90 dorms declared coronavirus-free. And as of June 9, 55,000 foreign workers are living in cleared premises, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) reported. 

Workers placed in such “virus-free” blocks have to abide by strict isolation measures, but say they have noticed improvements in some areas, such as cleanliness. Crowds, however, remain a problem, they added. 

When TODAY visited the dormitory on Friday (June 12), 17 workers had just arrived from the Singapore Expo, where they had been recovering from the virus. 

Block 14, the only block that has been barricaded to prevent other residents from coming too close, would be their new home.

The 195 residents of Block 14, which has a capacity of 430, have either recovered from Covid-19 or have tested negative twice. The block is among several across various dormitories that will be progressively cleaned and disinfected to make room for recovered workers, according to MOM’s website.

“I’m happy to be back here. At the Singapore Expo, I didn’t see sunlight for 32 days. Now I have sunlight and fresh air,” said Indian national Mr Kuttiyandi Dinesh, 27, who was placed in a 10-man room on June 6. 

Mr Dinesh had only been staying at the Westlite Toh Guan Dormitory for a month before restrictions were put in place to curb the spread of the virus. Two weeks later, he tested positive for Covid-19 after having a slight flu and fever.

“There are a lot of changes now compared to what it was like before. When I returned, they made all of us who returned together stay in the same room. We can’t mingle with other people in the block.

“All our meals are delivered to a separate collection point from other blocks and are collected by one room in-charge. And when we need things like groceries or toiletries, we can order them in a WhatsApp group chat and the order will be delivered to our block,” said Mr Dinesh, who has been working in Singapore for four years in the construction sector.

Dorm operator Vasudavan Krishnan said that Block 14 residents are allowed out of their rooms only on Tuesdays to buy groceries or to remit money back home within the compound. On this day, residents of other blocks remain in their rooms.

Mr Vasudavan added that the block’s residents have also started being prepared to return to work by being asked to download the TraceTogether, SGWorkPass, and FWMOMCare mobile applications, which aid in contact tracing and are used to record their health status and residential address.

Aside from being declared clear of Covid-19, other conditions must be met before workers can leave a dormitory for work. This includes having safe living measures in place, arranging staggered pick-up and drop-off times with employers, and requiring workers to download the necessary mobile apps.

While Mr Dinesh said that he has “no issues” abiding by the measures, he had hoped that when he returned to the dormitory, rooms would be less crowded.

“One room has 10 people just like before. It really doesn’t give us much space to keep a distance from each other. I would prefer if there were only six to seven people in each room instead. In the isolation facilities they let us stay in one room. Even if we shared it was two to three people so we had our space and freedom,” he said.

Mr Hemaitul Kabir, 40, who was placed in the virus-free Block 26 at Kian Teck Dormitory on Wednesday after testing negative twice, said that he now lives in a room of 14 people, compared to nine previously.

“The employer will rent the rooms for their workers so they make sure it is not overcrowded. Usually just a few in one room. But now, the dorm operators are in-charge of shifting us into this block so they are putting more people in one room to fill all the beds,” said Mr Hemaitul, who added that each room generally has seven bunk beds.

“To maintain proper distancing, the number of people should be reduced to maybe seven or eight people. Each room should have single beds,” he added.

Mr Hemaitul, a Bangladeshi who has been working in the construction sector in Singapore for 20 years, said that despite this, the room he is in is “very clean” and the dorm operator and security guards are controlling this block “very strictly” compared to the 10 other blocks.

At Block 4 in PPT Lodge 1B — also known as S11 Dormitory @ Punggol — residents are given more freedom. A foreign worker who declined to be named, and was placed in the cleared block after testing negative twice, said that residents can briefly roam around in open areas within the block while wearing masks and practicing social distancing. 

“We are only allowed to do this for around one hour in the morning and evening before the police officers will ask us to go back in. We are not allowed to come out at night but I am happy we get some movement and fresh air,” he said. 

Over at Block E in Cochrane Lodge 2 in Admiralty, also cleared of Covid-19, Mr Rafiqul Islam, 32, a Bangladeshi  who has been working in Singapore for 11 years, was placed in a room on June 2 after recovering from the virus.

Residents are allowed to leave the block three days a week — on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 4pm. During this time, the other four blocks are locked, and they are instructed to move through designated entry and exit points, Mr Islam said.

“I am happy because they have provided us with washing machines on every floor only in this block. Last time, I had to use the shared laundry service. Now I can wash my clothes separately to prevent mixing so I don’t have to worry,” said Mr Islam.

“But sometimes I think it is no use to give us this washing machine when we still only have 10 toilets and showers for 120 of us on one floor to use. If one of us has the virus then again everyone will get infected,” he said.