MOM issues stay-home notice to 4,800 workers

In a joint release, MOM, BCA and MOH said there will be testing the workers on stay-home notice over the next few days. Photo: Google Street View.

About 4,800 workers were issued a stay-home notice by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) as a precautionary measure after 58 COVID-19 cases found to be linked to the cluster at Sungei Tengah Lodge.

In a joint release with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Building and Construction Authority (BCA), MOM said it will be testing the workers on stay-home notice over the next few days.

“We expect to find among these workers, some who have evidence of an old infection and are no longer infectious. Such workers will be released from SHN and can resume work,” it said.

Those who test positive will be sent to the hospital or community care facility to receive medical treatment.

Those who test negative, on the other hand, will be quarantined at centralised facilities to prevent workers who are incubating the virus from spreading the infection to the rest of the population.

The release noted that the rest of the residents at Sungei Tengah Lodge are either recently recovered or were not close contacts of confirmed cases. These workers are not required to be isolated and will be allowed to continue working.

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Workers who are not recently recovered, however, will continue to be subjected to rostered routine testing.

The joint release revealed that 20 construction projects had been issued a safety time out notice by BCA after some of its workers tested positive for COVID-19.

This is to allow for affected areas to be disinfected as well as a review of onsite safe management measures.

“A stop work order may then be issued for part or whole of the worksite once the area where the COVID-positive worker and his co-workers operate, have been identified,” it said.

“The builder is required to review his safety management plans and make necessary rectification/improvement to mitigate any risk of further spread.”

It added that BCA will monitor closely all worksites, while stepping up active audits and inspections.

“BCA will also continue to share good practices and inspection findings on worksite with contractors through its regular Safety Management Officers briefings and dialogue sessions,” said the joint release.

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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg