The Government will extend the Stay-Home-Notice (SHN) for all work permit holders and S Pass holders in the construction sector.
The workers will now serve their SHN until 18 May 2020 at 11.59 pm, instead of until 4 May 2020.
Similarly, the dependant pass holders of these workers will be placed on SHN for the same extended period.
The Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) gave the update in a joint press release on 1 May 2020.
“Unlike most individuals who serve their SHN in isolation, the construction work pass holders are likely to be in shared accommodation where they have continued interactions with one another.
“Based on the public health assessment by the MOH, an extension of the SHN by a further 14 days to cover another incubation cycle will help to break the cycle of transmission,” said MOH, MOM and BCA.
The SHN applies to all construction work permit and S Pass holders, including their dependents in any place of accommodation, both permanent and temporary.
However, this excludes those staying in any dormitory gazetted as an isolation area, or any foreign employee dormitory as defined in the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act 2015, as these have special arrangements made for them.
The extended SHN period came at a time when the number of infected construction work pass holders living in non-purpose-built dormitories continued to rise.
“Their prevalence remains noticeably higher than the general community. This suggests that transmission at construction worksites among such workers had occurred before the start of the SHN period. The cases that are now being observed could have been incubated earlier or may have spread among the workers’ close contacts and house-mates,” added the.
The authorities said that they recognise the impact the extended SHN will have on employers and thanked them for their co-operation.
“Their [employers’] efforts will help to enable an eventual restart of the sector. Thus far, the vast majority of employers have looked after their workers well. We will need them to continue doing so for the remaining period of the SHN.
“They should make arrangements for the delivery of food [or groceries to enable cooking] and other daily essentials. They should also ensure their workers consult a doctor immediately when unwell. As far as possible, unwell workers should be isolated as a precautionary measure,” said the authorities.
The Government also noted that the advisory issued on 18 April 2020 to employers on their obligations for their affected workers will continue to apply.
“Employers, who have been approved by BCA for their foreign workers to carry out essential services during the SHN, may continue these works unless these approvals have been terminated,” said BCA, adding that employers do not need to reapply for approval.
Foreign workers who are granted exemption can leave their places of residence only to perform essential activities.
Employers need to ensure that all remaining conditions of the SHN, such as their workers do not travel elsewhere except to-and-from work and the daily declaration of their workers’ health status, must still be met, added BCA.
MOH Director of Communicable Diseases Dr Vernon Lee had also explained the reasons for the SHN extension to members of the Singapore Contractors Association Limited (SCAL) and the Specialist Trades Alliance of Singapore (STAS).
SCAL, supported by BCA, also announced that it will be setting up a SCAL COVID-19 fund to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their employees during the COVID-19 period to maintain employment and keep the SMEs in business.
The Government has also pledged its support by providing matching funds to supplement what SCAL can raise from the industry.
SCAL is now raising funds and estimated that the overall amount will be between $800,000 to $1 million, potentially helping at least 500 SMEs and 5,000 employees.
Separately, the Migrant Workers’ Centre and the Centre for Domestic Employees will be distributing care packs to over 650,000 migrant workers over the coming weeks. The Temasek Foundation will support them.
