COVID-19: Fighting fear and boredom, migrant workers face isolation in dormitories

SINGAPORE: One by one, over the past week, Ponnu has seen his three roommates get sick. Now, he is the only one left in his isolation room.

“I told my wife this. She is crying on the phone,” said the Indian citizen who was “scared” that he would be next.

Today should be a happy time for the couple: it is their fifth wedding anniversary. But the COVID-19 pandemic has clouded the occasion. Ponnu said he just heard that his remaining roommate, who was rushed to the hospital with a fever on Friday, tested positive for the virus.

“Last year, I sent my wife a card. This year, I can’t send anything. I gave him a slide show with photos, ”said the 35-year-old woman.

It was just over a week ago when two residents of his apartment in bedroom S11 @ Punggol were diagnosed with COVID-19. All workers at that level were transferred and isolated. Ponnu found himself housed in a four-room, and his fears have been on the rise ever since.

For some other foreign workers, anxiety comes in fleeting moments, amid the slow passage of time in isolation.

In the Westlite Toh Guan dorm, Mohana sometimes worries because she hears that “so many” people outside, referring to the country beyond her dorm, are infected with COVID-19.

So are some of his roommates. Two days after authorities isolated the bedroom, the workplace supervisor heard ambulances “coming and going.” As of noon yesterday (April 10), the confirmed cases there totaled 69.

However, the new coronavirus (Sars-CoV-2) is not the only enemy he and other workers face in five bedrooms, with a total capacity of nearly 75,000, now declared isolation areas under the Infectious Diseases Act.

READ: Tampin Dorm Declared Isolation Area Under Infectious Disease Law

‘THE MIND IS STICKED’

Her fight against boredom is as real as her underlying fears about her health. Even with free Wi-Fi, there is only so much you can do to occupy your time.

“Everybody feels that, all day long, there is nothing to do,” said Rashif, also from the Westlite residence. “Everyone is on the phone. Without the phone, everyone has nothing to do.”

When they had a job, they were busy but their minds were “free.” Now, “the mind is totally stuck,” he tried to explain. “The same place, the same thing, always goes on.”

The situation is similar in bedroom S11, which has a residential capacity of 13,000 and is the heart of Singapore’s largest COVID-19 group, with 306 cases as of Friday.

Mohammed, who lives there, used to wake up around 5.15 in the morning. Now he is awake about 30 minutes later for his morning prayers. After that, I eat my breakfast. After breakfast, I call my wife, “recited the 35-year-old man.

“Around 11am, we clean our room, then shower again and pray around 1.30pm. After that, we had lunch, all day in our room. “

That was his routine the first time CNA Insider spoke to him via Zoom on his phone Tuesday, to track how life has been inside these dorms over the course of the week.

It was the same routine the next day, and by Friday, she couldn’t bear to be in her room anymore. He admitted sneaking under his block inside the compound for a moment, only to go running and exercising.

“But first I checked to see if, outside, the police (was there) or not,” he said with a nervous laugh.

Some of the workers may stretch their legs along the hallways of the bedrooms, as their rooms do not have en-suite bathrooms.

But the point is that, according to Mohammed, there is only one shower or toilet cabin for every 18 people, or more, at a time of safe distancing.

IMPROVED CONDITIONS

Workers’ living conditions have been under the spotlight since the first two bedrooms were released on Sunday. A report in The Straits Times spoke about roaches and unsanitary conditions at the facility.

READ: Overcrowding and emotional health of migrant workers in dormitories worry employers

However, led by an inter-agency task force, cleaning and sanitation conditions in the dormitories “have greatly improved as improved measures and cleaning routines are implemented,” the Ministry of Human Resources said on Friday.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke about the work being done in the dormitories in his latest speech to the nation on the COVID-19 situation.

READ: Cleaning and sanitation in 4 dormitories of isolated ‘greatly improved’ foreign workers: MOM

READ: Singapore is paying ‘special attention’ to the welfare of foreign workers amid the COVID-19 outbreak: PM Lee

“We pay a lot of attention to the welfare of foreign workers. They came to Singapore to work hard to earn a living and keep their families at home. They have played an important role in the construction of our HDB floors, the Changi airport, the lines of MRT, “he said Friday.

“We have worked with their employers to make sure that their wages are paid and they can send money home.” We will provide them with the medical care and treatment they need.

“If any of your family members watch my video, let me tell you this: We appreciate the work and contributions of your children, parents and spouses in Singapore. We feel responsible for your well-being. We will do our best to take care of your health, livelihood and well-being. “

Among the workers, mainly from Bangladesh, with whom CNA Insider spoke on the phone and via video conference, their rooms look clean.

But “people get it dirty very quickly, because many people live together,” said Pangkil at Sungei Tengah Lodge, one of the other shared dorms. Pangkil’s name, and the names of some residents in this story, have been changed upon request.

“Sometimes I am very concerned because we live with 12 people together, I really cannot be a meter away. I am concerned that the virus is spreading.”

The space can be occupied by items such as buckets and kitchen utensils. And then there are the two-story beds that are “very close” to each other in his room, Rashif told CNA Insider on his phone.

“If he (lies) here (in one bed), then (he can) touch someone else here (in another bed),” said the 26-year-old.

Plans are underway to relocate thousands of healthy multi-bedroom workers to alternative facilities. Already, more than 5,000 of them in essential services have moved to places like the Singapore Armed Forces camps. Starting next week, they will also be housed in two floating housings.

READ: ‘Dedicated Strategy’ to Break the Spread of Covid-19 in Dorms, Including the Housing of Healthy Workers in Army Camps

As of Saturday, residents contacted by CNA Insider have not seen an impact on the number of people in their own rooms. They are not aware of the situation beyond their own flat.

Workers are aware of the need for personal responsibility, although Pangkil is concerned that “we don’t know if anyone has any symptoms if they … think it’s normal.”

Rashif’s roommates have him, a workplace safety and health coordinator, to help ensure his temperatures are taken daily.

If someone’s reading is on the high side, get them to hydrate before doing another check 10 minutes later. If the reading doesn’t drop, “then we report,” he said.

STAYING DEVELOPMENT

He and his roommates received their masks, thermometers, and hand sanitizers the day after their isolation began. “They told us before that it was a challenge (to deliver them before) because there are a lot of people,” he said.

Since then, more support measures have been implemented in the dormitories, including logistics, as well as the provision of medical care by the SAF Army Medical Services.

But aside from seeing cleaning and disinfection in common areas intensify, up to an average of three times a day, according to MOM, residents like Rashif say they are unaware of some of these movements on the ground.

Residents say they were also caught off guard when their bedrooms were first registered as isolation areas. Some of them heard it on the news before seeing ministry officials and police officers in their compound.

In the Westlite bedroom, the announcement about the public address system came late at night. “Most of the people were going to sleep, or some were already sleeping. Then later (it was announced), they woke up, ”said Rashif, whose blockade was first isolated.

This was followed by notices that were given to each room. “They just (said) stay in the room … and they all keep a distance of one meter. Then clean yourself, personal hygiene, ”he quoted.

When Sungei Tengah Lodge was released on Wednesday, tedium became deeper concerns among some workers like Pangkil. “Because I saw in the two (previous) days, more than 15 ambulances arrived. I don’t know what’s next, “said the 23-year-old.

The atmosphere there has become surreal. “Everything is silent,” he described. “I feel stressed, but I can accept it. Because I think this is how animals, birds, stay in closed houses (cages) for a long time. “

However, the workers are not totally separate from the rest of Singapore: they have been using chat tools, video platforms, especially TikTok, and other social media to share news, and not just in the declared isolation areas.

On Thursday night, for example, there was a live broadcast on the Migrant Workers Singapore Facebook community page. Organized by one of the residents, and hampered by erratic Internet connections, participants from various dormitories across Singapore shared how they were dealing.

THEY ARE NOT ALONE

Migrant worker welfare groups are also working overtime to help workers. Project Chulia Street, for example, is providing care packages with hygiene products like soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste and masks, said its managing director, Lee Shaun Tzen.

As of Friday morning, with donations coming in, the group had managed to raise S $ 330,000 to help some 43,000 workers.

A coalition of four groups – Citizen Adventures, Singapore Migrant Friends, ItsRainingRaincoats and MigrantxMe – is planning an online learning portal for workers where Singaporeans can volunteer to share lessons, from languages ​​to the arts.

READ: NGOs launch initiatives to help migrant workers amid COVID-19 outbreak

SDI Academy group is even creating a mental health app on Android called Linger.AI by the end of the week. In addition to health resources, it will also offer English classes and a module on entrepreneurship.

Explaining the reason for such initiatives, Citizen Adventures director Cai Yinzhou said: “(On) day two, people are happy to sit (and) watch (their phones), but … by day five or six, how many videos can you? watch?

“People start to get restless. There really is no other place they can go, unless things change. “

Some of the groups, including the Humanitarian Organization for the Migration Economy (HOME) are raising funds, anticipating that “many workers will experience financial crises posed by COVID-19,” said HOME case executive Desiree Leong.

A spreadsheet has been distributed that consolidates the efforts of all these groups, with information on how the public can contribute, and has generated an encouraging response.

However, some of the workers’ needs have been as simple as getting the right food.

“The first day, they had food (served), but it was not to their liking, and the portions were quite small,” said Tabitha Lim, human resources manager at Jerevin Industrial, which has workers in one of the dorms.

“In group chat, there are also other business owners who mentioned that their workers were given Chinese food, that they cannot eat because some of them are Muslim.”

This is one of the things that the working group has tried to improve. The Human Resources Ministry said Thursday that the catering services have “implemented new measures to guarantee punctuality in food distribution and the quality of food.”

For example, at Westlite Toh Guan, which has about 6,700 occupants, meals now take 90 minutes to fully distribute, instead of two hours, according to bedroom manager K Dave.

“We also increased the workforce, along with the Migrant Workers Center that assisted in this part,” he said. “My staff and I are also eating the same food.”

When asked about his lunch on Thursday, Rashif said via text message that it was “50/50”, followed by a disappointed-faced emoji.

Now he also learns that more workers are being transferred to the hospital. “Very concerned,” he sent her a text message.

Amin, an S11 resident who has worked in Singapore for six years, can’t help but feel that the coronavirus is “reaching” rooms in her flat. And when he called his mother yesterday, he fell apart, he said.

“All men are afraid,” the 25-year-old told CNA Insider. “(Going to the bathroom) is also scary; Each place is also scary. Boredom is not a problem. The movies (we) can see, but I am afraid (in terms of) a mental problem. The tension is coming, the headache is coming. “

Check out this spreadsheet of efforts to help the Singaporean migrant community see how you can contribute.