About 5,700 workers who are required to undergo rostered routine testing have yet to do so, and will not be able to return to work until then.

Their access code status will remain red and will only be restored to green once they have been tested for Covid-19, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Building and Construction Authority, Health Promotion Board and Economic Development Board in a joint statement on Friday (Sept 18).

The number of workers yet to be scheduled for routine testing has seen a significant reduction from the 13,000 workers from last week, the agencies said, and thanked employers for their cooperation.

Stressing the importance of rostered routine testing, authorities cited one of the purpose-built dormitories here, which saw a spike in new infections.

At end-August, only a quarter of the dorm's residents who were required to undergo rostered routine testing were actually doing so, they said.

A total of 115 Covid-19 cases in the dormitory were subsequently picked up when MOM mounted a testing operation as a precautionary measure, but those cases could have been detected and contained much earlier had all the workers been scheduled for their rostered routine testing, authorities said.

"Employers who are recalcitrant and do not schedule their workers for rostered routine testing will have their work pass privileges curtailed," they stressed.

Employers can contact these sector leads if they have queries on the testing requirements.

Construction sector employers can e-mail SRS_Enquiries@bca.gov.sg, while those in the marine and process sectors can e-mail swab@edb.gov.sg

More information is available on the Manpower Ministry's website for employers with manufacturing and service workers who stay in dormitories.

Employers who need to register for a swab registration system log-in account can visit this website.

Those facing issues with using the Health Promotion Board's swab registration system can e-mail AskSRS@hpb.gov.sg.