Coronavirus pandemic
Workers moved to Home Team, MOE, Civil Defence sites
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A dormitory block at the Home Team Academy in Old Choa Chu Kang Road, where about 370 workers in essential services are staying.
PHOTO: HOME TEAM ACADEMY
Yuen Sin
Close to 700 foreign workers are now being housed temporarily at Home Team Academy (HTA) and Civil Defence Academy (CDA) dormitory blocks, following plans to relocate them to alternative sites, in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus in foreign worker dormitories.
Other foreign workers are also being housed in four premises under the Ministry of Education (MOE), including Northshore Primary School in Punggol North.
A CDA dormitory block in Jalan Bahar has been housing foreign workers since April 9, with about 300 currently staying there, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) in a statement on Wednesday.
"This is part of a whole-of-government effort to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in view of the increase in cases at foreign worker dormitories," said an SCDF spokesman.
A dormitory block at the HTA in Old Choa Chu Kang Road has also been housing foreign workers. About 370 workers in essential services are staying there now.
"HTA is able to accommodate more if the need arises," a spokesman said on Wednesday.
Both HTA and SCDF said that this has no impact on training programmes that are being conducted at the training schools. Enhanced measures, such as safe distancing and daily health declarations, have already been put in place. There is also sufficient accommodation for CDA trainees, SCDF added.
Apart from Northshore Primary School in Punggol North, three other MOE premises - the Outdoor Adventure Learning Centres in Dairy Farm and Labrador as well as the Sarimbun Scout Camp in Lim Chu Kang - are being used to house foreign workers.
In a statement yesterday, MOE said that it will be implementing various health and safety protocols at the temporary facilities, such as keeping the workers in isolation and on stay-home notice where appropriate, but did not specify how many workers were currently staying at the facilities.
Workers in essential services will be allowed to travel only between their workplace and their accommodation, while those in non-essential services will be required to stay within the premises, MOE added.
Foreign worker dormitories have been a growing source of concern during the Covid-19 outbreak, with cases linked to dormitories accounting for a substantial number of new cases over the past two weeks.
About 7,000 foreign workers in essential services staying in purpose-built dormitories have moved into alternative living areas, such as military camps, floating hotels and vacant Housing Board blocks.
