• There will be stricter measures to prevent Covid-19 spread at Jurong Fishery Port and Senoko Fishery Port
• One will be to prevent the intermingling of foreign and resident workers
• There will also be measures to separate tenants and workers at the market so they do not intermingle

SINGAPORE — Safety measures in key areas at Jurong Fishery Port, Singapore’s largest active Covid-19 cluster, and Senoko Fishery Port will be tightened, the authorities said on Wednesday (July 28).

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) in a statement said that it had conducted an investigation into how the coronavirus transmission could have occurred at the Jurong port, and identified areas where safety measures could be strengthened.

The measures will be implemented in three areas at both ports.

THE PORT ENTRANCE

All authorised entry pass holders are required to undergo testing before entry, before they move on to a seven-day rostered routine testing regime.

“Those who do not undergo testing or do not have negative test results will not be allowed to enter the fishery ports,” SFA said.

Previously, authorised personnel such as tenants, workers and traders did not need to be tested and were only required to check in using the TraceTogether SafeEntry contact-tracing system and take their temperature.

For foreign delivery drivers, they must remain in their vehicles for SafeEntry check-in and temperature-taking instead of alighting, so as to reduce intermingling.

They would have already been tested upon entering Singapore.

THE MARKETPLACE

Access into the marketplace will be restricted and there will be a limit to the number of seafood traders who can be on the premises at any time.

Tenants and workers will be segregated into groups that will have separate toilet facilities, as well as meal and smoking areas to reduce intermingling.

SFA said that there will be enhanced surveillance and enforcement of safety regulations, and firm enforcement action will be taken against those who flout these regulations.

THE WHARF AND UNLOADING AREA

Contact between fishery port personnel and foreign individuals will be reduced.

All unloading activity will be supervised by safe distancing ambassadors and will also be monitored via closed-circuit television cameras.

Fish containers such as boxes or crates will be disinfected before collection.

Workers must keep their distance as foreign workers unload the goods. They can only pick up the goods after the foreign workers move away from the demarcated unloading area.

All workers will be required to adhere to a hand hygiene and sanitation regime, and must wear their masks and gloves when they pick up the goods, SFA added.

Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, said on Monday that based on the authorities’ early findings, fishmongers who did not wear masks while performing laborious tasks or taking breaks could have resulted in the flare-up of cases at Jurong Fishery Port.

MEASURES SPECIFIC TO JURONG FISHERY PORT

There will be measures customised for Jurong Fishery Port because some larger fishing vessels tend to offload at the port.

To limit the interaction between foreign fishing crew and resident workers, there will be dedicated workers operating forklifts and cranes within the wharf area to move seafood from the vessels to the gates for collection by fishery port workers, SFA said.

The authority added that Jurong Fishery Port will reopen on Sunday for tenants to return to make arrangements for resumption of operations. On Aug 2, unloading and wholesale activities will be allowed to resume.

The port has been shuttered since July 17, a day after it was identified as a Covid-19 cluster. As of Wednesday, 932 cases have been traced back to the port.

SFA added that since the closure of the port, it has conducted two rounds of deep cleaning of the entire site.

“Tenants will be briefed on the enhanced measures and SFA will work with the industry to facilitate strict compliance.” 

The agency added that it will be working with the trade associations to refine the enhanced measures and “adapt them if necessary to the unique working conditions of our fishery ports”.