Coronavirus: Unwell foreign workers in dorms with high rate of infections isolated first and tested later, says MOH

A worker residing in the Westlite Papan dormitory getting a swab test on April 21, 2020. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

SINGAPORE - Foreign workers living in dormitories with high rates of Covid-19 infections are immediately isolated from others if they display symptoms, even if they have yet to be tested for the virus.

The Ministry of Health's director of medical services, Associate Professor Kenneth Mak, said on Tuesday (April 28): "We eventually will need to test all of them but the first priority is really to get them out, make sure they are properly isolated, given the high rate of infection within those dormitories."

Strategies differ across different dormitories based on the rate of infection, Prof Mak noted, adding that the isolation of those who are symptomatic is a key method to disrupting the coronavirus' train of transmission.

He added: "We've also seen in some dormitories that practically every foreign worker who presents to our medical team with symptoms of acute respiratory syndrome tests positive… Therefore in those dormitories where the rate of infection is very high, it makes a lot of sense for us then to have as a priority, ensuring that all symptomatic foreign workers are isolated and taken away from their roommates.

"We use testing a lot more strategically to target those dormitories where we are intending to find out a little more about where the level of infection is within them, as well as to focus on (dormitories with isolated cases) because that is where the chances of success are greatest in trying to disrupt the chain of transmission."

Active case finding and isolating close contacts will also help to break the transmission chain, he said.

Prof Mak also noted that the majority of the foreign workers who display symptoms are still very well, and most have just minimal symptoms.

"Therefore, most of the times when we place them in these isolation facilities and we keep a close eye on them, there isn't really much else we need to do other than the monitoring we put in place. That is our priority."

He said that this monitoring of workers with symptoms but are yet to be tested may mean that the actual number of Covid-19 patients in dormitories is in fact larger than the number of cases officially reported by the Ministry of Health.

Remote video URL

"But there will always be a catch-up, because once we are able to settle these priorities, we will come around to make sure they are properly tested, because we want to make sure that they indeed do have an infection and confirm that, so that we can make a decision on whether to return them to the community of foreign workers in the dormitories when they recover," said Prof Mak.

He stressed: "It's not an issue of fudging or dodging or trying to hide numbers. It's really a question of making sure that our priority in testing matches the needs on the ground and making sure that we report as transparently as we can."

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.