Government struggling to cope with COVID-19 infections among migrant workers

 

Construction workers stand in line to receive coronavirus tests at a temporary testing center set up at a construction site in southeastern Seoul's Gangdong District, Aug. 24. Yonhap

Vaccinations to be offered to foreign nationals regardless of legal status

By Lee Hyo-jin

The government is struggling to cope with a recent surge in COVID-19 cases among migrant workers, who are vulnerable to infection clusters due to their often dense living environments and poor working conditions.

A total of 1,643 foreign nationals in the country were confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus from Aug. 22 to 28, accounting for 13.8 percent of the total infections during the same period, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Sunday.

By region, in Gangwon Province, 123 foreign nationals have tested positive in August, accounting for 17 percent of the keonhacai infections in the region. Of them, 29 patients were found to be employees at a steel company in Donghae City, while 26 cases were traced to private gatherings.

In Gyeonggi Province, 732 foreign nationals tested positive in the third week of August, accounting for some 20 percent of the total 3,713 infections during the same period, a jump from nine percent in July.

South Chungcheong Province reported 386 cases among foreign nationals this month as of Aug. 26, accounting for 23 percent of the total infections there. In Gwangsan District of Gwangju, 40 foreign nationals were confirmed to have contracted the virus from Aug. 11 to 23, accounting for 29 percent of the new infections.

The health authorities said that the surge in cases among migrant workers is attributable to the highly contagious Delta variant, as well as their often cramped living environments and poor working conditions.

Many low-income migrant workers in Korea are forced by their conditions of employment to live in dormitories with shared toilets, shower facilities and kitchens, making them highly vulnerable to the spread of the virus, thus leading to outbreaks of infections.

The authorities cited other reasons, such as the relatively low vaccination rate of residents of foreign nationality, compared to Korean national residents, difficulties in epidemiological investigation on the side of public health authorities due to language difficulties, and hesitancy among undocumented foreign workers to undergo coronavirus testing, out of concern that they might be exposed to immigration authorities.

People wait to receive coronavirus tests at a temporary testing center in southwestern Seoul's Guro District, Aug. 24. Yonhap

Against this backdrop, related government bodies including the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs have introduced a set of response measures.

The justice ministry will encourage undocumented foreign nationals to take coronavirus tests as well as get vaccinated, while assuring them that they will not face any penalties, such as arrest or deportation.

The labor authorities plan to strengthen on-site monitoring of adherence to the government's social distancing measures at companies and construction sites employing migrant workers, including inspections of the quality of their housing and living environments.

Regarding the poor housing of migrant workers at farms in rural areas, where they often have to live in cramped spaces with poor ventilation, the agriculture ministry will provide financial support to farm owners to improve worker housing through projects to fix run-down, abandoned houses or setting up mobile prefabricated housing.

Meanwhile, several local governments ― including the Gangwon Provincial Government, Gwangsan District Office in Gwangju and Yeonsu District Office in Incheon ― have decided to offer vaccinations to foreign nationals regardless of their legal status.

They will administer the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine to any foreign nationals over the age of 30 who have been living in Korea longer than 90 days.

South Chungcheong Provincial Government, for its part, has been translating the letters of notice of its COVID-19 vaccine program into 12 languages in order to encourage migrant workers to get tested regularly and vaccinated.