The Republic had to make a hard decision and suspend all construction work as part of tighter measures that kicked in last Wednesday.

This was done to stem the risk of wider transmission of the Covid-19 virus, said Manpower Minister Josephine Teo in a Facebook post yesterday.

Reiterating a point she had made earlier, Mrs Teo wrote: "If we act fast, we're aware there's little time for employers to adjust. If we act too slowly, there is risk of wider transmission.

"This is the difficult trade-off."

Her explanation comes in the wake of social media posts and text messages that had circulated over the preceding two days highlighting the frustrations of some employers.

The tighter measures, which kicked in on April 22, mean that migrant workers will not be allowed to step out of all dormitories for any purpose, including going to work.

The measures will apply to all companies, even those that had earlier obtained licences to operate.

Stay-home notices have been given to all 180,000 construction work permit and S Pass holders and their dependants.

"But without it, they could still be out and about. Should we have avoided this move? Should more time have been given? We will never really know, but time is not on our side.

"Given how quickly and widely the virus spreads, can we afford to wait? If there's anything we have learnt about the virus, taking action sooner is probably better than later," Mrs Teo said.

The updated measure is aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus among foreign workers, who have been the hardest hit, and those they come in contact with.

Epidemiological findings of infected migrant workers are already showing links at common construction work sites.

"Even if their workers did not live in the dorms, cross-infections at the work site may already have occurred," Mrs Teo added.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) also had to nudge the 24 per cent of employers who are still paying salaries in cash to move to electronic payment for faster settlement and to prevent salary disputes down the road.

"More importantly, we have to reassure the workers and not risk them becoming anxious and restive over salaries," Mrs Teo said, noting that their families too are depending on them to continue to put food on the table.

More than 2,700 employers recently applied for bank accounts for about 35,000 migrant workers.

There has been some discussion on whether the authorities should have tested foreign workers earlier to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Mrs Teo said MOM had sent out an advisory in February to ask employers not to send workers who were healthy for testing. This was done at the request of the Ministry of Health.

"Why? Because at that time, healthy workers were going to hospitals in droves to ask for tests.

"The worry was that thousands would show up and overwhelm healthcare workers," she said.

In a Facebook post on Friday, Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that many migrant workers are Muslims - mainly from Bangladesh but also some from India - who are fasting in the month of Ramadan.

"Many in the local community have wanted to support them and show gratitude for the important jobs they are doing," he said.

Mr Tharman said some of these healthy workers in essential services have moved into Housing Board blocks in Taman Jurong, where he is an MP for Jurong GRC, and the residents in the community distributed packs of new clothes and prepared a special meal for them on Friday.

He added that the Government is sparing no effort to help the migrant workers.

"But what's really encouraging too has been the many individuals and groups all over the island who are rallying to help the workers through this difficult period, just like for any Singaporean in need," he said.