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Singapore is quarantine country
10/04/2003 13:36 - (SA)
Singapore - Foreign workers and professionals landing in Singapore from countries affected by the killer Sars virus will be quarantined for 10 days before being allowed to start working there, says a minister.
Manpower minister Lee Boon Yang said lower-paid work-permit visa holders would be quarantined at two facilities provided by the government, while the higher-paid employment-pass holders would be asked to stay in their homes or other accommodation pre-arranged by their employers.
They can start reporting for work after the 10-day quarantine period if they do not show symptoms of the pneumonia-like severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), he said.
Lee said foreign workers in the city-state who visited areas on the WHO watchlist also would be quarantined for 10 days on their return to Singapore.
"With effect from April 11, my ministry will impose a 10-day quarantine on all work-permit and employment-pass holders entering Singapore from the World Health Organisation (WHO) list of Sars-affected countries," Lee said at a media conference.
"This will minimise the risk of imported cases, causing a Sars outbreak at their work," he said.
Health checks at airport
The WHO has China, Hong Kong, Canada, Taiwan, Vietnam and Singapore on its watchlist of countries or territories affected by Sars, which has killed more than 100 people worldwide, including nine in Singapore.
Tourists arriving in Singapore from Sars-affected areas will not be quarantined, but will face health checks at the airport.
Lee said he expected some impact of the new measure on companies in labour-starved Singapore, which hosts about 600 000 foreign workers and professionals, but the effect will not be "crippling".
"It's a calibrated measure," he said.
Many of the lower-paid workers are housed in dormitories and employed by construction and service companies, including large numbers of men from China.
Two quarantine facilities, each with a capacity to accommodate up to 200 new foreign workers, will be set aside on the outskirts of the city and will be managed by industrial landlord JTC Corp.
Lee said employers would be asked to bring in new workers by batches after notifying the ministry.
Each batch would remain under quarantine for 10 days and their health would be monitored regularly and strict security measures would be imposed. Violators would have their work permits revoked.
At the end of 10 days, the quarantine facility would be vacated for five to six days for disinfection before the next batch of workers was flown in.
Encouraged to use local labour
All costs are to be borne by the employer, but most employers supported the move because of the seriousness of the situation, Lee said.
In normal times, the ministry received about 1 200 applications for work permits each month, but Lee said he expects the number to fall drastically.
The manpower ministry also advised employers "against bringing in foreign workers from the WHO list of Sars-affected countries as far as practicable until the situation improves."
Lee encouraged employers to use local workers or those from other countries not on the WHO list.
Lee "strongly urges" companies to stop sending foreign workers back on home leave or send any of their Singapore-based employees for work assignments or training in Sars-affected countries.
"We are facing an unprecedented situation. We are dealing with a serious and unseen threat," Lee said.
- AFX
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