11 in Westlite dorm test positive; workers being moved
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An ambulance entering the Westlite Woodlands dormitory last night. The Straits Times understands that plans are being made to move hundreds of workers to a quarantine facility.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Toh Ting Wei, Kok Yufeng
Eleven workers staying in Westlite Woodlands dormitory have tested positive for Covid-19, including 10 who had recovered from the virus, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) yesterday.
This was after a 35-year-old Bangladeshi worker staying in the purpose-built dorm tested positive for the virus on Monday, despite receiving both doses of the vaccine.
The Straits Times understands that plans are now being made to move hundreds of workers to a quarantine facility.
MOM said in a statement last night that its Assurance, Care and Engagement Group and the Ministry of Health (MOH) took swift public health action after the case was detected as part of rostered routine testing for migrant workers.
The worker's close contacts in the dorm and his workplace were isolated and placed under quarantine. The worker's roommate, who was among those taken to a dedicated quarantine facility, was later found to be infected with Covid-19.
As a precaution, Covid-19 tests were conducted on all residents of Westlite Woodlands, MOM said.
To date, 10 workers who had previously recovered from the virus have tested positive.
These cases were immediately isolated and taken to the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), and are being investigated for possible re-infection.
MOM said more information will be shared in due course.
According to a circular issued by Westlite Woodlands, the new cases were detected after pre-emptive swab and serology tests were conducted on residents staying on the second to seventh floors of Block A of the dorm. The worker who tested positive on Monday had stayed in the block.
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Update on cases
New cases: 15
Imported: 14 (2 permanent residents, 2 dependant's pass holders, 1 student's pass holder, 7 work pass holders, 1 work permit holder, 1 short-term visit pass holder)
In community: 1 (1 permanent resident)
In dormitories: 0 (Figure given before news of cases in Westlite dormitory)
New community cases in the past week: 9
(5 unlinked)
Active cases: 274
In hospitals: 70 (1 in ICU)
In community facilities: 204
Deaths: 30
Patients with Covid-19 who died from other causes: 15
Total discharged: 60,561
Discharged yesterday: 36
TOTAL CASES: 60,880
The circular - a copy of which was obtained by ST - noted that workers staying in the block will be moved to a government facility today and quarantined for 14 days as a precaution.
These dorm residents were recalled from work and are now required to stay in their units at all times until they are moved to the quarantine facility.
ST visited the dorm last night and spoke to a dozen workers. All of them said they had to undergo swab tests either on Tuesday or yesterday. Most had heard about the Covid-19 cases and said their employers told them they cannot leave the dorm to go to work.
Some stocked up on groceries, such as rice and cooking oil, before returning to the dorm as they feared a lockdown.
The last time a Covid-19 case was linked to Westlite Woodlands was in September last year, five months after eight cases were first linked to the dorm on April 11.
The cluster, which grew to 1,061 cases, was closed on Oct 11.
The 11 dormitory cases did not appear in the MOH case count yesterday.The sole community case of Covid-19 reported yesterday is a 39-year-old systems engineer at healthcare provider Parkway Pantai. His case is unlinked.
There were 14 other coronavirus cases confirmed - all imported - taking Singapore's total to 60,880.
