Responsible COVID Management in Migrant Populations: Lessons from Singapore

The University of Nottingham's Taiwan Studies Programme presents an online discussion, Responsible COVID Management in Migrant Populations: Lessons from Singapore.

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https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/asiaresearch/projects/tsp/events/2021/tsp-talk-covid-mangt-22-june-21.aspx

The first cluster of infections affecting migrant workers in an electronics factory was reported by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) in Taiwan on 4 June 2021. Within a week, this initial cluster of 67 individuals had increased to include two other electronic factories in Miaoli, with about another three thousand more either in quarantine facilities, isolating in dormitories or awaiting results of rapid tests. At the same time, COVID cases for the general population were decreasing. The rapid rise of migrant infections has shone a harsh light on two immediate issues concerning migrant rights in Taiwan: one is their living conditions in dormitories and second is the discrimination they face as a marginalised population. Many believe, Taiwan is at the very early beginning of what Singapore saw in April 2020, when a spike in COVID infections amongst its migrant workers population led the Singaporean government to order a lockdown of migrant dormitories. However, positive COVID cases amongst migrant workers in Taiwan have not yet, at the time of writing, grown exponentially. This presents us with a crucial window to assess and review what lessons could be drawn from Singapore for Taiwan. This panel brings together public health, social policy and responsible business conduct experts from Singapore in a timely exchange on what could be learnt for Taiwan and other places with significant migrant populations in similar living conditions.

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