About 90 percent of Singapore’s cases are linked to crowded foreign workers’ dormitories that were a blind spot in the government’s crisis management. This massive second wave of infections caught Singapore off guard and exposed the danger of overlooking marginalized groups during a health crisis. Singapore’s costly oversight was also an important lesson to other countries in the region with large migrant populations. Neighboring Malaysia recently announced mandatory coronavirus testing for its more than 2 million foreign workers after dozens were diagnosed with Covid-19. Meanwhile, all construction sites and dorms were locked down and foreign workers largely confined in their rooms.

Source: Manila Times May 11, 2020 16:30 UTC