COVID Dorm Outbreak: Has Singapore Learned To Treat Its Migrant Workers Better?
VICE.com , “The government thought last year’s dormitory outbreak was only a public health emergency. But the reality is far from that.” By Heather Chen, 3 June 2021 Bangladeshi construction worker Nasri was among tens of thousands of migrant laborers in Singapore who tested positive for the coronavirus last year after an outbreak swept through crowded dormitories, prompting impassioned calls to improve labor conditions for them in the Southeast Asian city-state. .... While the recent cluster was contained relatively quickly due to increased measures like routine testing and immediate isolation, deeper issues still need to be addressed. Hamid and other migrant workers are not just concerned about COVID, but their personal safety and welfare in general. He spends hours on the road every day, cramped together with at least eight other workers at the back of open-air lorries that ferry them to and from work sites like “cattle”. In Singapore, migrant workers are prohibited by their