SINGAPORE: A mandatory stay-home notice for work permit and S Pass holders in the construction sector has been extended by two weeks until May 18, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Friday (May 1).
These workers and their dependents were to serve stay-home notices until May 4, but this will now last until 11.59pm of May 18.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe ministry said that authorities have been closely monitoring the infections among construction workers living outside purpose-built dormitories, where movement restrictions remain in force.
The number of infections in this group has continued to rise, and the prevalence remains "noticeably higher" than the general community.
This suggests that "transmission at construction worksites among such workers had occurred before the start of the stay-home notice period", said MOM.
AdvertisementAdvertisement[h=3]READ: COVID-19: Singapore's recovered foreign workers to be housed on SuperStar cruise ships[/h]"The cases that are now being observed could have been incubated earlier or may have spread among the workers’ close contacts and house-mates," said MOM.
An extension of the stay-home notice by 14 days to cover another incubation cycle will help to break the cycle of transmission, based on a public health assessment by the Ministry of Health, it added.
[h=3]INTERACTIVE: All the COVID-19 clusters at dorms and construction sites[/h]"We recognise the impact on affected employers and appreciate their cooperation. Their efforts will help to enable an eventual restart of the sector," said MOM.
"Thus far, the vast majority of employers have looked after their workers well. We will need them to continue doing so."
Employers are required to make arrangements for the delivery of food or groceries and other daily essentials. They should also need to ensure their workers consult a doctor immediately when unwell.
Singapore now has 16,169 COVID-19 cases, the majority of them migrant workers.
As of Thursday, 85 per cent of Singapore's infections, or 13,842 cases, are linked to foreign worker dormitories. Another 555 cases are work permit holders who do not live in dormitories.
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