60,000 new bed spaces for migrant workers by end-2020

Singapore

SOME 60,000 new bed spaces will be ready for migrant workers by end-2020, while another close to 60,000 with "new designs and new standards" will be added within the next two years, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said on Monday.

"This is a major building programme that we are putting in place," he said at a Covid-19 Multi-Ministry Task Force virtual press conference, on the day before the "circuit breaker" begins to lift.

While the early new bed spaces are to be housed in "new quick build" dormitories (QBDs) and 36 unused state properties that include former schools and vacant factories on eight sites, Mr Wong said that the subsequent 60,000 spaces to be housed in 11 new dorms is part of a longer-term plan for new purpose-built dorms which will have reduced density and more resilience against the risk of pandemics.

The new purpose-built dorms being planned for the next "several years" can house up to 100,000 workers, according to a spokesperson from the Ministry of National Development.

The eight sites identified for the QBDs are Kranji Way, 1 Tuas Avenue 2, Tuas South Avenue 10, Jalan Tukang, Admiralty Street, Choa Chu Kang Grove, Choa Chu Kang Way and Tampines Industrial Avenue 2.

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Mr Wong said that the government is committed to building the new dorms, but Singaporeans must do their part as well.

"Because in land-scarce Singapore, it is inevitable that some of these new dormitory sites would be quite near (to) residential areas," he noted. "All of us must do our part in rejecting the Not-in-My-Backyard mindset. We really need to appreciate the contributions that all our migrant workers have been doing and will continue to do in building Singapore."

Manpower Minister Josephine Teo said that some 40,000 migrant workers have been cleared of the coronavirus to return to work when the circuit breaker lifts on June 2.

"It means that every block in the dormitory has been cleared, and every resident in those blocks have been cleared of Covid-19 infections," she added. "This is very remarkable progress made by the Inter-agency Task Force (ITF) to get us onto the recovery phase."

To properly manage the safe resumption of work, Mrs Teo said the ITF has, with the help of other government agencies, created a new access code feature on the SGWorkPass app that will allow the migrant workers, employers and dorm operators "to have clarity" about who can exit the dorms to work.

Face masks, instead of shields, will also continue to be mandatory when people leave home to work or for essential errands from Tuesday. The face mask will remain the default protective gear that people should be wearing to prevent the spread of Covid-19, according to Health Minister Gan Kim Yong.

Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, director of medical services at the Ministry of Health, said that the ministry has decided to no longer treat face shields the same as masks. "Face shields cannot replace masks in the majority of settings to prevent ourselves from being exposed to (Covid-19) infection from others."

Exceptions are made for children age 12 and below who have difficulties wearing masks for prolonged periods of time. People with health conditions and have trouble breathing through a mask as well as teachers in a classroom and lecturers in a lecture hall may also wear a face shield in place of a mask.

On the lifting of the circuit breaker, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in his Facebook that "dealing with Covid-19 is a marathon, not a sprint".

"Even after a vaccine is found, everything will not simply go back to the way it was before," he said. "Covid-19 has exposed how vulnerable our way of life is. But it has also given us the opportunity to prove our mettle, and come back stronger."

The Ministry of Health on Monday confirmed 408 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total in Singapore to 35,292. All of the new cases are Work Pass holders residing in foreign worker dorms. For the first time in more than three months, there was no new community case reported.