Coronavirus: Workers worried about virus, but also about work, wages

Staying in a dormitory room all day can be tiresome but for construction worker Muthukrishnan Manivannan, his day is spent worrying about his family back in India.

He lives in S11 Dormitory @ Punggol, which has been gazetted as an isolation area since April 5, meaning that workers cannot leave their rooms for at least 14 days. He has not been to work since the start of the circuit breaker period on April 7.

Mr Manivannan, 45, has worked in Singapore for about 10 years. He has a daughter and son, aged 10 and seven, back in Tamil Nadu.

"I sent money back last month, but I'm not so sure about this and next month as I'm not working," he said. He sends about $1,000 home each month, having earned about $1,900 with overtime pay.

He wakes up at about 7am, and it is lights out at about 10pm. To pass the time now, Mr Manivannan watches movies on his phone, and calls home twice a day. "The video call (quality) is not clear, but I'm still happy to see them."

S11 Dormitory, located near Nibong LRT station, is also known as PPT Lodge 1B. It houses about 13,000 residents, and has more than 2,200 confirmed Covid-19 cases, as of yesterday. This accounts for more than one in five of all cases here. Meals served there come in Indian, Bangladeshi, Chinese, halal and vegetarian varieties. Typically, a fruit, a drink and bun are also included.

Foreign workers elsewhere are effectively being locked down in their dormitories, as they adhere to circuit breaker measures that kicked in on April 7.

As part of tighter measures introduced, residents have been barred from leaving their dormitory premises from Tuesday until May 4. About 10,000 workers in essential services have already moved out from dormitories.

Infection hot spots in dormitories have become an increasing source of concern in the outbreak. Latest figures indicate that nearly four in five of all the 10,141 coronavirus cases in Singapore are foreign workers living in dormitories.

As of yesterday, 28 out of 43 purpose-built dormitories - which can house between 3,000 and 25,000 residents - have known clusters.

The Government has repeatedly given assurances that foreign workers and their daily needs and medical care will be taken care of.

Manpower Minister Josephine Teo has also said her ministry is working with employers to make sure workers will continue to be paid during this period.

Mr Mundla Anil Kumar, 31, who lives in Tampines Dormitory, which has been gazetted as an isolation area since April 9, said that he feels safer staying in his room than being outside.

"We've been in the room every day since the start of the circuit breaker. For the first two to three days we were very bored, then later we started doing exercises, calling home, and doing some cleaning. We also went to help MOM (Ministry of Manpower) distribute food."

At his dormitory, which has more than 80 confirmed cases as of yesterday, residents take turns to collect the three daily meals for their roommates so that they have a chance to catch a breather.

Before the circuit breaker period, Mr Mundla, who considers his roommates his "brothers", would cook dinner with them after work, and visit Tekka market for groceries on Sundays.

"The circuit breaker is the only way to control the coronavirus, because we don't have a vaccine now, so we must support whenever we can," he said.

A multi-agency task force was set up this month to ensure the daily needs of the workers are attended to, with teams deployed to all 43 purpose-built dormitories here. They work alongside dormitory operators to ensure meals are delivered on time, and medical posts are set up so workers do not have to leave the dormitories to report sick, among other things.

In an e-mail interview with The Straits Times, managing director of S11 Dormitories Johnathan Cheah said that his company did not expect the full impact of Covid-19 and its "dire consequences".

The dorm management has been working with the Health and Manpower ministries to implement measures, such as having workers stay in their assigned rooms, emphasising the importance of safe distancing and the wearing of masks.

With a key challenge being the maintenance of hygiene standards at the dormitory, Mr Cheah said that the blocks are cleaned and refuse is collected several times a day now, as the amount of refuse has quadrupled with the introduction of catered meals.

The Westlite Papan dormitory in Jurong has no known cases of Covid-19 so far and is not gazetted as an isolation area.

Resident Rodolfo Junior Gabi, 43, who is from the Philippines and works in costing at an engineering firm, said that he is worried but hopes there would not be an outbreak in his dormitory.

He boils ginger with lemon and drinks this three times a day, as he believes this helps to boost his immune system.

He also enjoys more space in his room now, as some of his roommates who work in essential services have moved out. There are now two people in his room, compared with eight previously.

Asked if he was worried about his job, he said: "We also think about it, but we don't know what will happen. I just pray only that the virus will be stopped so that work can continue."