Singapore Racecourse areas to serve as Covid-19 recovery facilities

THE Singapore Turf Club (STC) and the Tote Board are working with government agencies to temporarily convert selected areas of the Singapore Racecourse at Kranji into community recovery facilities for foreign workers recovering from the Covid-19 virus.

The selected areas are the multi-storey car park and Car Park B at the racecourse and the sheltered area at the Singapore Turf Club Riding Centre, STC, which manages and operates horse racing at the Kranji racecourse, announced on Monday.

These areas will also be demarcated as restricted zones with no access to the public.

The facilities are slated for completion by end-May 2020. Construction and building works will be carried out based on approved protocols and procedures by government agencies.

Community recovery facilities are for recovering patients who remain well at day 14 of their illness, are past the critical stage and unlikely to need further medical care. They still need to be isolated in order to reduce the risk of transmission.

Some sites in Singapore which have been converted to house recovering patients include one built at Tanjong Pagar Terminal which is able to house up to 15,000 patients or foreign workers, along with several unused premises at Singapore Armed Forces camps with a total capacity of about 5,300, according to The Straits Times reports.

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In line with the Singapore government's "circuit-breaker" measures, Singapore Turf Club suspended all race meetings until June 1.

Several strides have been made in relocating foreign workers into alternative accommodations to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

On Sunday, Chancery Court, a mixed-use property at 36 Dunearn Road owned by Singapore developer Far East Organization (FEO), started housing foreign workers temporarily and is able to accommodate up to 1,200 individuals, The Business Times understands. FEO had bought the property, with its 136 residential units and eight commercial units, for S$401.78 million in a collective sale tender in 2018.

The Singapore Land Authority on April 28 announced that Anderson Junior College hostel would be used to house foreign workers who have tested negative for the Covid-19 virus but may have other illnesses. The site has a capacity of around 350 beds.

The Singapore Expo & MAX Atria was also repurposed into a community care facility for recovering Covid-19 patients and has been closed to the public since April 7.