Safeguarding the community

TDT | Manama

A number of government schools across the Kingdom are being prepared to be turned into temporary shelters to accommodate expatriate labour workers. The Ministry of Interior confirmed this last night on social media, saying that the move is intended to reduce overcrowding in the workers’ existing residences and allow for social distancing, in light of the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The number of active COVID-19 cases has been rising in Bahrain recently among expatriate labourers, with the new cases coming from those in their accommodations, where they are mostly packed together in small rooms.

As a precautionary measure and to ensure the health and safety of the workers and the community as a whole, Interior Minister General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa called to enact this new measure during a meeting with Bahrain’s Governors.

The Interior Minister asserted that governorates must reduce this overcrowding in labour camps, especially in illegal accommodations, and distribute these residents to government facilities such as schools, among other places.

In view of this, Northern Governor Ali bin Al Shaikh Abdulhussain Al Asfoor yesterday held a video call with the security committee and the provincial coordinating council. In their discussions, they had agreed to form a working group to conduct a field survey of the government schools as proposed shelters, in order to choose the most appropriate ones and the most prepared for the temporary housing initiative.

This will be done in coordination with the workers’ companies and employers. Also discussed were the basic needs that will be required in these temporary accommodations.

Meanwhile, as a related preventive measure, mobile testing units supported by Community Police continue to test expatriate workers in their places of residence in Manama, Hidd, Ras Zuwayed, Aleker, Nuwaidrat, Alnuaim, Bukuwara, Salmabad, Askar and Sitra.

Early yesterday morning, the Ministry of Health reported 73 new active cases, all but one of which were involving expatriate workers. The other was an individual arriving from abroad.

Further preventative measures have been taken for all contacts of those new cases, including testing and precautionary quarantine to ensure their safety, as well as the safety of the community. All-new active cases had not left their places of residence, said the Ministry.