Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) Updates
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Estéema\" post_id=\"1989913\" time=\"1596786288\" user_id=\"66413:
You’ve hit the nail right there. I was too tired yday to highlight this point, after a long harvesting & seeding day.
Google does not explain you many things in the rental market. I used to be a tenant for more than 10 years before I got my own HDB, so I have some experience. It's not very transparent but it is there. It is called 'racial profiling'. It is very hard for a worker from South Asia countries to go and find a rental place. Not to mention, imagine all the 300k workers in dorms now go out and rent HDB flat, the price will surely go up by a lot.Midgoo\" post_id=\"1989860\" time=\"1596778073\" user_id=\"186765:
[quote=lee_yl post_id=1989802 time=1596719586 user_id=17023]I just googled, so many common rooms pop out for rent at $500 / month (probably still can nego). Some are just a 5 mins walk from MRT. Common rooms‘ rental usually cheaper than renting a whole unit.
According to my hairdresser who co-shares a common room with her cousin, utilities bills aren’t that exp as most if the time they aren’t at home (work 6 days a week) and they don’t cook, of cos they don’t have aircon as well.
For those who think dormitories are good, ask yourself, if you have to spend $300/mth per pax, you prefer to rent a common room in HDB with a friend/cousin or sleep on a bunk bed with 20 strangers in a FW dormitory?
There are always a lot of ways save cost. However, the person must be knowledgeable enough (and sometimes lucky). We cannot expect those people coming from some poorer countries and probably less education to come to a totally new place and know how to live best there. If you go and ask parents in Singapore who sending their kids to overseas to study. You can see that most of them would rather spend more money for them to stay in hostel than let them find a place outside unless they know that place very well or have a property/relative there.
As for whether the current cost of the dorm should deserve better condition, I cannot comment cause I am not running the dorm. I hope MOM will look into that and make sure the workers are not abused/took advantage by the dorms or their employers.
The very reason why dorms were built was Singaporeans cannot except FWs living amongst time. There was a time when FWs were not accustomed to our culture & practices, news reports were highlighting all the drinking sessions at Taman Jurong void decks, peeing & chatting and residents expressed unhappiness & concerns esp when they’ve young kids returning in the evenings walking thro void decks. Then there we’re hoo haas near Tai Hwan Gardens where plans for dormitories were rejected & concerns of devaluing properties there. Dorms were then up for operators to bid & run according to security stands. Many operators hv to plan for FWs mix as not all are fr one country - they’ve Bangladeshis, Indiana, Chinese, Mynmarese, Thais, etc.
I’m still curious the numbers fr FW Hv not gone down to 2-digits & wondering if it’s still due to habits & culture.
Moving fwd, whatever govt do, eyers need to 配合 But it’ll not be easy with bz having CB measures that clip their operations. Future, costs will go up & passed on to higher bldg costs, higher product/services costs for any jobs that requires FWs labour under the sun.
It is in fact a good thing we hv designated dormitories esp when there’s a pandemic, we can ringfence fast. There are still many FWs amongst the community, tho numbers are far less & not easy to ring fence. I was at a farm at LCK picking up veg seedlings & saw at least 20 (Bangladeshi & Mynmar) workers there & they all lived on the farm premises. There some in pockets of HDB housing & pte residences (illegally) esp when there are bldg works. Every eyer will try to reduce costs of engaging & housing workers. I’m sure by now, Dorm operators Wld hv stepped up their gigs as they’ve benefitted much Fe operating profits & recovered initial setup costs. Most importantly, they wld know the seriousness of setting up clean & hygienic environment owise their licenses will be at risks.[/quote]I don’t have the figures but I think at least half the FWs in SG don’t stay inside dorms and are actually residing in outside premises, usually rental units sourced by their companies in HDBs/old private apartment).
As we can see from the daily MOH report, we have hundreds of FWs residing inside dorms being tested positive on a daily basis VS only a handful for those FWs residing outside of dorms are tested positive.
The govt has admitted that the FWs residing inside dorms are in an environment closely packed (no possibility of social distancing) which helps to spread infectious diseases fast. Covid-19 is not the first epidemic in the dorms, there was an earlier chickenpox epidemic, which is why there’s urgency to test and separate the infected FWs from the healthy ones in order to contain the spread of virus. Not to mention to confine the FWs to the dorms to quarantine them there. -
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/first-vaccinations-next-week-for-clinical-trial-in-singapore
The world was caught off guard by covid virus, the world has race against developing covid vaccines. Now, right here in SG, the clinical trial involving 100 volunteers will begin soon! We can defeat this virus with everyone pulling in one direction. In this battle, many measures can be improved but during the battle, there is no benefit of hindsight. No countries in the world has been spared and many countries once lauded for having gold standard, including SG, has seen 2nd or even 3rd wave. Many outbreaks occurred at unconventional places such as cruise ships, air craft carrier, nursing home, dormitories, places of worship, etc. It is with increasing accumulated knowledge that we know covid is extremely contagious and any close communal living is susceptible to high degree of the virus spread.
After months of battle, we are beginning to see and hear more positive development and news. Community cases remaining low; we have finished screening all FWs in the dorms; many workers are able to resume work; disruption to life has been minimised; developing and testing of vaccine; students can see their peers in school; and so on and so on. Hopefully, whatever measures in place will continue to keep the virus at bay until the vaccine is developed.
Our main source of infections, the FWs, so happy for them and credit must be given to all involved! They have managed to receive their pays during lockdown and thus, alleviate much of their mental stress as they have families to feed at home. Improvements are being made to make their living condition much better and errant dorms management who doesn't meet operation standard should be taken to task. Pre covid, their living condition is already better than many of their regional peers, it is heartening to see that that did not stop relevant stakeholders striving to continue making their living environment better. If this source of infection can remain free of future infection, it will be great boost to our fight. Another 'weapon' to fight covid is speedy trace of close contact of positive cases, in this regard, hopefully everyone is open to the use of SafeEntry, TT app and TT token. -
https://www.facebook.com/inthenow/videos/389825751996284/
Please wear mask too to protect everyone especially if we are sick. -
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/first-singapore-volunteers-given-locally-co-developed-covid-19-vaccine-in-trial?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=STFB&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2yYmArtiI4cqkaHl5IeBD3PuX8awZ-Mw3EbVpZsUsx6qNpIQHFEifOEeM#Echobox=1597157194
Something positive to focus on! The trial is in motion and the first cohort of the volunteers have been injected with the locally co-developed covid vaccine. Separately, news report that Putin's daughter has also been injected with vaccine that developed by Russia. In fact, Russia has registered the vaccine and declared it was safe to use and the President's daughter been injected with the vaccine could be a stamp of confidence.
This covid winter has been long and stormy. Luckily, we have been making hay while the sun shined and meanwhile, we can count on the accumulated hay to weather the storm. Despite the positive news and development on viable vaccines, this war is far from over. Our economy already taken a beating and look like it will get worse before getting better. Unfortunately, we do not have a big enough domestic market to support the economy unlike many other countries. Without domestic market, being an open economy is the only way we can survive and prosper. However, we have to shut down along with so many countries in the past months and without a meaningful domestic market, It would be more than miracle if we still expect our economy to do better than many of our peers. We should count our blessing that we have been making hay while the sun has been shining.
We managed to avoid burdening the healthcare system despite chalking up more than 55k cases. This can't be achieved without a well thought out plan. The 'step down' care for healthier patients at the various community facilities have lessen the burden at various hospitals, they in turn, were able to dedicate care to patients with more serious conditions. It is not a fluke that our fatality rate is 27/55000 = 0.0004%. I think this achievement is often conveniently ignored by critics, which is grossly unfair to our front liners who have been battling the virus 24/7 round the clock. Cynics may say it is duty call but duty or not, they put their own life right at the firing line just so that the rest of us can be safe.
Let's hope the vaccine trial is successful. Let's hope more successful vaccines can be developed. Let's hope the sun will shine again soon and we can all go back to making hay and storing more hay. We never know when the next storm, and could be an even more severe one, may hit us. -
Freaky scary...
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/covid-19-china-shenzhen-brazil-chicken-test-positive-coronavirus-13016174
BEIJING: A sample of frozen chicken wings imported into the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen from Brazil has tested positive for coronavirus, the city government said on Thursday (Aug 13), raising fears that contaminated food shipments could cause new outbreaks.
Local disease control centres tested a surface sample taken from the chicken wings as part of routine screenings carried out on meat and seafood imports since June, when a new outbreak in Beijing was linked to the city's Xinfadi wholesale food centre.
The discovery came a day after traces of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 were found on the packaging of frozen shrimp from Ecuador. China has been stepping up screenings at ports amid the concerns over food imports.
Shenzhen's health authorities traced and tested everyone who might have come into contact with potentially contaminated food products, and all results were negative, the city's notice said.
The Brazilian embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
\"It is hard to say at which stage the frozen chicken got infected,\" said a China-based official at a Brazilian meat exporter.
The Shenzhen Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters said the public needed to take precautions to reduce infection risks from imported meat and seafood.
In addition to screening all meat and seafood containers coming into major ports in recent months, China has suspended some meat imports from various origins, including Brazil, since mid-June.
The first cluster of COVID-19 cases was linked to the Huanan seafood market in the city of Wuhan. Initial studies suggested the virus originated in animal products on sale at the market.
Li Fengqin, who heads a microbiology lab at the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment told reporters in June the possibility of contaminated frozen food causing new infections could not be ruled out.
Viruses can survive up to two years at temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celsius, but scientists say there is no strong evidence so far the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can spread via frozen food. -
102 new cases as announced around 4.15pm today.
Thankfully, numbers going down day by day at the 100-200-ish mark. -
zac's mum\" post_id=\"1989693\" time=\"1596687324\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=1989693 time=1596687324 user_id=53606]
Costs and money talks. I dealt with vehicles before and it's expensive to hire additional vehicles for safe distancing.
I just saw a pickup truck 2 days ago, the workers were packed shoulder to shoulder like Pre-Covid days. Not sure whether those cleared of virus are allowed to skip the safety distance??[/quote] -
lee_yl\" post_id=\"1990000\" time=\"1596851749\" user_id=\"17023:
We will never know how closely packed they are in private lodging...may be even worse coz it's kinda free for all in those old shophouses, or old private apt.
I don’t have the figures but I think at least half the FWs in SG don’t stay inside dorms and are actually residing in outside premises, usually rental units sourced by their companies in HDBs/old private apartment).
As we can see from the daily MOH report, we have hundreds of FWs residing inside dorms being tested positive on a daily basis VS only a handful for those FWs residing outside of dorms are tested positive.
The govt has admitted that the FWs residing inside dorms are in an environment closely packed (no possibility of social distancing) which helps to spread infectious diseases fast. Covid-19 is not the first epidemic in the dorms, there was an earlier chickenpox epidemic, which is why there’s urgency to test and separate the infected FWs from the healthy ones in order to contain the spread of virus. Not to mention to confine the FWs to the dorms to quarantine them there.
Personally, the main diff is the cluster size....like 1000s for the dorms vs 10s outside. It only takes a couple of the workers to be infected to start a huge cluster in the dorm. Whereas for those living outside, had they stuck to their SHN, if there's no spark, there will be no fire. At that scale, it is more easy to contain.
As for the living condition of the dorms, I don't expect the operators to provide housekeeping svc. Their living quarter should be upkept by the workers....if our 18 yo ns boys can do it, then I believe they should be able to be at least half as good. But, unfortunately, I believe it is a cultural issue, ie, most of them probably came from a very different living condition as what we normally see in SG. Recently, I drove pass Chancery Courts....think it was converted the enbloc condo to house some of them. From the outside, I could see that it was turning into some squatter estate....laundry randomly hung all over the yard/turf area. It is like that one....just like some HDB dwellers think it is ok to hang their laundry at the playground
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Uniqlo S'pore launching quick-drying AIRism mask on Aug. 24 after overwhelming response in Japan
https://mothership.sg/2020/08/uniqlo-singapore-airism-mask/ -
Hygiene Personality Quiz
https://www.lifebuoyhygienehero.com/
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