Foreign workers have been in the authorities’ sight early on in the COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore at the start of the year, said Manpower Minister Josephine Teo on Monday (4 May).
Delivering a ministerial statement in Parliament, she explained how the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) helped to prevent imported cases by limiting the return of work pass holders and monitoring returnees’ compliance with Leaves of Absence and Stay-Home Notices, among other things.
“Throughout this period, migrant workers were also on our radar,” said Teo.
“The day after the first confirmed case in Singapore (in January), MOM reached out to dormitory operators to be more vigilant and to step up hygiene. In fact, one of the earliest media conferences that Minister Lawrence Wong and I held was at the Tuas View Dormitory, after we inspected their quarantine facilities (in early February),” she said.