24-hour helpline and website launched to reassure migrant workers amidst anxiety
Christine Leow // April 14, 2020, 7:42 pm
“There is a pressing need to maintain worker morale and assure them that they will be looked after,” said Dr Jeremy Lim, who sits on HealthServe’s board of directors. HealthServe has launched a helpline and website to provide information and reassurance to the workers. Photo from MOM's press release.
HealthServe, a nonprofit serving the migrant worker community in Singapore, has launched a new 24-hour helpline and an informational website to support Singapore’s foreign workers during COVID-19.
Available in Tamil, Bengali, Chinese and English, the help comes at a critical time for the more than 284,000 foreign workers here (as of June 2019) under “construction work permits”.
Today (14 April), 334 new COVID-19 infections were reported in Singapore, with foreign workers making up more than half the number.
Already seven foreign worker dormitories have been gazetted as isolation areas due to the large number of COVID-19 cases in their midst. This has tens of thousands of workers confined in their lodgings for 14 days.
HealthServe’s 24-hour information helpline (call/WhatsApp +65 31384443) offers free counselling sessions and a means for workers to reach out for help about food, living conditions and salary issues.
“I think one of the key fears for them is: Are we being isolated? Are we being left behind?”
Callers can also request for clinic information to be sent to their handphones via SMS. Those who leave their names and a message will have counsellors and caseworkers returning their calls.
The website (https://covid19.healthserve.org.sg/) provides daily updates of news and resources that can help foreign workers.
Official news and information about COVID-19 tests, treatment and isolation information can be found on the website. The workers can also find out where to get help and how to manage their fear and anxiety during this period.
Apart from caring for their emotional and mental well-being, the website provides information on foreign worker and employer rights as well.
Such assurances are necessary given the climate of anxiety amongst migrant workers. In a an interview with Salt&Light last week, Executive Director of HealthServe Michael Cheah noted that even the most optimistic among the workers have turned pessimistic.
“I think one of the key fears for them is: Are we being isolated? Are we being left behind?” said Cheah.
The NGO is working on making their support available in more languages.
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