500 vaccinated migrant workers to be allowed into community weekly

A pilot programme allowing migrant workers in dormitories to go back into the community is set to begin next week - nine months after the scheme was announced in December last year and more than 16 months after movement curbs were first imposed.

For a start, up to 500 fully vaccinated migrant workers living in dorms that have had no Covid-19 cases in the previous two weeks will be allowed to visit pre-identified locations in the community for up to six hours each week.

These dorms will also need to have good safe living measures in place and must have a 90 per cent vaccination rate, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said yesterday.

More than nine in 10 migrant workers living in dorms are fully vaccinated but The Straits Times understands some dorms have not met the required vaccination rate.

The first identified location for the pilot scheme is Little India.

Workers will need to take an antigen rapid test (ART) before the visit and three days after the visit.

MOM will evaluate the scheme after a month.

ST understands that workers will need to apply to be part of the pilot scheme. It will be open to all dorms that meet MOM's criteria, but it is not clear how workers will be selected or split into cohorts.

Dedicated bus transport to and from Little India will be provided.

Workers will also be restricted to an area within Little India, but the ministry did not specify where and how big this area will be.

It also did not say how it plans to ensure workers do not leave the stipulated area during the visits.

More details are expected to be announced next week.

MOM will also be easing other restrictions from next Monday.

This is the same day a new mandatory self-testing regimen for workers living in dorms is set to begin.

As part of this new regimen, workers will need to regularly test themselves using ARTs. This is in addition to the rostered routine testing they are subjected to.

From next Monday, all migrant workers will be allowed to visit their designated recreation centre twice a week, up from once a week now.

MOM will work with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to introduce activities such as movie screenings, sports events and religious services at the centres.

Workers will be allowed to visit the recreation centres within 48 hours of a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test or within 24 hours of a negative ART.

Workers who want to visit the centres for a second time in the same week outside of their regular testing window can do so with a negative ART result.

This additional test can be done at the recreation centre.

Excursions to attractions organised by NGOs will also be allowed to resume, with pre-event tests.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a visit to Westlite Mandai dormitory, where a cluster of 14 cases was recently closed, Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Health Koh Poh Koon said the initial plan for the community visit pilot scheme is for workers to visit Little India on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays over two time slots in the morning and afternoon.

About 80 workers will be allocated to each time slot.

The pre-and post-visit ARTs will allow the authorities to pick up any Covid-19 cases and to better understand how the pilot scheme will benefit workers without risking the virus spilling out into the community or back into the dorms, Dr Koh said.

There will not be fixed itineraries for the community visits but workers may go to religious sites first before visiting shops and eateries.

Dr Koh said MOM will work with mosque and temple management to segregate the workers from other devotees.

"They have a little bit of flexibility there to also meet up with people they want... l think that degree of freedom is important for them to actually de-stress," he added.

Dr Koh said the easing of restrictions on workers comes as the number of people in the larger community vulnerable to Covid-19 is falling as vaccination rates rise.

Barring a "black swan event" such as a new, more virulent strain of the virus, the community visits for workers will likely go on even if they result in a few new infections.

He added: "We can probably manage the risks because the workers' dormitories already have good segregation (measures).

"So we will then be able to make sure that they are safely managed in the dorms or in the quarantine facilities without having to necessarily abolish the (pilot) completely and lock down all the dorms again."

The high vaccination rate has provided a degree of baseline protection, which will be enhanced by third booster shots for the community and possibly for migrant workers as well, Dr Koh said.

"All this will give us a better footing to say that we want to move in one direction and not... U-turn."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 10, 2021, with the headline 500 vaccinated migrant workers to be allowed into community weekly. Subscribe