Singapore is putting more than 1,100 migrant workers in quarantine after about a dozen COVID-19 cases were found in a residence and investigating the possibility of re-infections among those recovering from the virus.
More than 1,100 workers from the dormitory will be quarantined in government facilities for 14 days, the dormitory operator said in a letter to customers circulating on social media.
Centurion Corp (CNCL.SI), which owns the Westlite Woodlands dormitory, confirmed the authenticity of the letter.
Authorities conducted COVID-19 tests on residents of the residence after one worker was found positive during the routine test on Tuesday.
The worker received a second vaccination dose a week earlier and his roommate also tested positive.
To date, at least ten people who have recovered have tested positive for COVID-19.
“These cases were immediately isolated and handed over to the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID) to investigate possible re-infection,” the manpower ministry said in a statement issued Wednesday.
A Reuters journalist on Thursday saw ten buses gather near the dormitory and take dozens of men out of the complex.
The majority of the more than 60,000 COVID-19 cases in Singapore have occurred in dormitories that house tens of thousands of predominantly South Asian low-wage workers, who closed off the premises last year.
Singapore has largely brought the virus under control locally and has also instituted vaccinations. It last reported more than ten cases in a single day among dormitory residents in September, with barely new infections in recent months.
The Ministry of Health had earlier said vaccines were effective in preventing symptomatic diseases, but further investigation is needed to see if they also prevent the transmission of the disease.
Concerns are growing about new variants of the virus and the effectiveness of existing vaccines against it.
Although the potential for re-infection exists, these cases came earlier than expected, said Hsu Li Yang, an expert in infectious diseases at the National University of Singapore.
The dormitory workers are still mostly separated from the rest of the population, and are usually only allowed out of their residence for work.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s Ministry of Transport has said it hopes a long delayed air travel bubble will start with Hong Kong soon, but no date has been set yet. read more
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