Unwell foreign workers to be isolated even before Covid-19 test

Foreign workers living in dormitories with high rates of coronavirus infection 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 Kenneth Mak yesterday said: "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, Associate Professor Mak said, adding that isolating those who are symptomatic is a key method to disrupting the coronavirus' chain of transmission.

He said: "We have 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 these dormitories where the rate of infection is very high, Prof Mak said it makes a lot of sense to prioritise isolating those who are symptomatic away from their roommates.

On the foreign workers who display symptoms but are yet to be tested, Prof Mak said the majority are "very, very well" and most have just minimal symptoms.

"Therefore, most of the time 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 that we put in place."

He said that the monitoring of workers with symptoms who have not been tested may mean that the actual number of Covid-19 patients in dormitories is larger than the number of cases officially reported by the Ministry of Health.

"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 is not an issue of fudging or dodging or trying to hide numbers.

"It is 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."

In response to a question about the number of foreign workers who have symptoms but are not tested yet, Prof Mak said the joint task force managing the situation in dormitories is compiling the figures.

It will provide an update on the figures when possible.

On where the workers with symptoms are isolated, Prof Mak said they are first assessed on what their risk is from Covid-19.

"And those, for example, who are much older foreign workers or whom we regard as perhaps having a high risk of having symptoms and deteriorating, we want to be particularly vigilant in those cases, and we transfer them to our hospitals for further monitoring and further care."

Where the other workers are isolated will depend on the facilities available.

"For example, if there are facilities available within the dormitories that allow for them to be properly looked after and isolated, separate from those who are well and without any symptoms, then we would be accommodating them in these facilities," Prof Mak said.

Separately yesterday, the Singapore Land Authority said the former Anderson Junior College Hostel has been repurposed to house foreign workers who test negative for Covid-19 but may have other illnesses.

The site has around 350 beds and started receiving foreign workers last week.

Beyond isolating workers, the authorities are also continuing with active case finding and isolating close contacts of confirmed cases to reduce Covid-19 transmission.

Prof Mak added: "We use testing a lot more strategically also to target those dormitories where we are intent on finding out a little bit more about where the level of infection is... as well as to focus particularly on the dormitories where there may only be an isolated number of cases."

That is where the chances of success are greatest in trying to disrupt the chain of transmission, he added.

On the issue of foreign workers who have recovered from Covid-19, Prof Mak said the work is under way to help accommodate fully recovered workers and integrate them back into their community.