• Dr Koh Poh Koon said Singapore needs a continued inflow of migrant workers to support key economic sectors 
• Many of such workers are from India and Indonesia
• He stressed that migrant workers and visitors are subject to stringent measures before and after they arrive here
• MOM received around 25,000 requests for foreign domestic workers to enter Singapore between April 2020 and January 2021

SINGAPORE — If Singapore closes its borders to travellers from India and Indonesia in an effort to curb the importation of Covid-19 cases, there will be widespread social and economic impact for Singaporeans.

Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Health, said in Parliament on Tuesday (Feb 16) that the repercussions could mean that many Singaporeans will not receive the keys to the housing units they bought, and families will have to consider finding alternative care arrangements for their loved ones because they will face delays in hiring foreign domestic workers as caregivers. 

“Our economy will also slow down and the lives and livelihoods of many will be impacted. Some of the travellers (from these two countries) are our citizens, permanent residents or their close relatives (who come) here to visit them,” he said in response to a parliamentary question.

Mr Leong Mun Wai, Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) from the Progress Singapore Party, had asked why the Government is not closing the nation’s borders to India and Indonesia, given the "disproportionately large number of imported cases from these two countries".

Dr Koh explained that Singapore needs a continued inflow of migrant workers to support key economic sectors, including construction workers to build housing projects and critical infrastructure, and foreign domestic workers to support the caregiving needs of families. 

Many of such workers are from India and Indonesia, he said. 

Dr Koh assured the MPs that these migrant workers and visitors are subject to stringent precautionary measures to keep the risk of Covid-19 transmission within the community low.

They include pre-departure tests before they leave their country, on-arrival tests when they arrive in Singapore, and a 14-day stay-home notice at dedicated facilities with another test before they complete the period of isolation.

Other lines of defences include requiring residents of foreign worker dormitories and people working in high-risk workplaces to undergo Rostered Routine Testing at least every 14 days.

Dr Koh said that less than 1 per cent of Singapore’s total arrivals since April 1 last year has tested positive for Covid-19. 

Most of the arrivals since then were from mainland China, Indonesia, India and Malaysia.

The proportion of imported cases were:

• 3.7 per cent for India

• 1.6 per cent for Indonesia

• 0.04 per cent for Malaysia 

• 0.01 per cent for China

THE NUMBERS

Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Minister of State for Home Affairs, said in Parliament that all foreign visitors, including family members of Singapore citizens and permanent residents, must seek approval before entering Singapore, to manage the risk of importing Covid-19.

From April 1 last year to Jan 31 this year, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority processed about 18,600 applications for entry of foreign family members of Singapore citizens and permanent residents. 

Of these, 97 per cent were approved, while the remaining three per cent were rejected mainly because of the lack of proof of the relationship between the applicant and the alleged family member.

Ms Gan Siow Huang, Minister of State for Manpower, disclosed that the Ministry of Manpower had approved around 25,000 requests for foreign domestic workers to enter Singapore between April last year and January this year.  

Ms Gan added that about 600 Singaporeans and permanent residents submitted appeals when their initial applications to hire these workers were not successful and about 500 succeeded eventually.

The population of foreign domestic workers here has remained largely stable at around 250,000, she said.