All Remaining Standalone Quarantine Facilities in Dormitories Cleared Of COVID-19

1. With effect from today, all dormitories have been declared cleared of COVID-19 (including the standalone blocks in Purpose-Built Dormitories (PBDs) serving as isolation/quarantine facilities). All residents in the standalone blocks have either completed their isolation/quarantine, or been moved to other government facilities depending on their health status. 
   
   More Workers with Green AccessCode
2. The number of workers able to resume work continues to increase. We expect the recently cleared dormitories to soon complete all the necessary preparations, with an additional 20,000 residents expected to have Green AccessCode. Half of these residents currently have Red AccessCode as their addresses are not updated. Reminders will be sent to dormitory operators and employers to update workers’ addresses accordingly.
   
   

   	Three Weeks Ago (21 Jul)	Last Week (4 Aug)	Today (11 Aug)
   Number of all CMP foreign workers (total: 387,000) with Green AccessCode	186,000 (48%)	265,000 (68%)	315,000 (81%)
   Number of CMP dormitory residents (total: 286,000) with Green AccessCode	104,000 (36%)	180,000 (63%)	224,000 (78%)

   Workers with Red AccessCode
3. Going forward, we expect that there will always be a proportion of workers who have a Red AccessCode. This is due to several possible reasons below: 
   
   a) They tested positive for COVID-19 recently and are still undergoing treatment; 
   b) They are close contacts and placed under quarantine; 
   c) They are placed on precautionary quarantine while their exposure to a Covid-positive case is being established; 
   d) They no longer have TraceTogether installed on their mobile device; or
   e) They are required to undergo Rostered Routine Testing (RRT) but did not do so. 
4. With the completion of the dormitory-clearance process, we have adopted a multi-layered strategy to prevent a second wave of infections in the cleared dormitories:
   
   • Prevention
     Migrant workers staying in the dormitories will be cohorted by the type of industry that they work in. In addition, Safe Distancing Measures have been implemented in the dormitories. This will ensure Safe Living, Safe Working and Safe Rest arrangements for the workers are adhered to.
   • Detection
     We leverage the following four key layers of safeguard to monitor and manage the risk of new outbreaks: (1) Medical Technology; (2) Monitoring of Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Report Sick Rate; (3) Waste Water Monitoring and (4) Rostered Routine Testing (RRT). With these, we will be able to sieve out new cases early and perform the necessary containment arrestment efforts.
   • Containment
     Once a new case is detected, the contact tracing effort will commence to determine the close contacts at the dormitory and workplace with reference to the individual’s movement history. Sector agencies will work closely with the employers to assess the risk at the workplaces and put in place safety timeouts if necessary. Aggressive testing operations will also be conducted to arrest a possible second wave of infection.
   • Isolation
     Once immediate close contacts of the positive migrant workers have been identified, they will undergo a 14-day quarantine at a dedicated facility. Other close contacts will be quarantined on-site to undergo tests to ensure that they are COVID-cleared before they are able to return to work.
5. The new infection cases in cleared dormitories and decant sites remind us on the need to be vigilant. As we gather more real-life data, we will be better able to assess the impact of Safe Distancing Measures (SDM) and segregation measures. This will help us assess patterns in the spread of infections, and review the extent of quarantine required to contain a detected case. Our priority will be to prevent and arrest new infections through early detection, timely containment and effective isolation.