A migrant worker sits in her bed at a construction site on May 17 in Singapore. Image of Oer Huiying / Getty
Singapore reported 614 new cases of Covid-19 today, giving the national total beyond 30,000.
Most Asian city-states 30,426 cases are migrant workers living in dormitories, where clusters began to emerge last month and have gone berserk despite attempts by authorities to pressure.
The epidemic jumped the highest in April, at one point reaching more than 1,000 cases per day for several consecutive days.
Since then, it has dropped back slightly – but remains high, with 400 to 800 cases a day.
Some background: Around 1.4 million migrant workers live in Singapore, most of whom work in construction, manual labor and domestic work. They are mostly from South and Southeast Asian countries, such as India and Bangladesh, and are an important part of Singapore’s workforce.
Of these, around 200,000 live in 43 dormitories, according to the Minister of Labor Josephine Teo.
Each dormitory room accommodates about 10 to 20 residents. They share toilet and bathroom facilities, eat in public areas, and sleep only a few feet from each other. It is almost impossible to do social distance – the consequences are clear.
