SG’s migrant workers fall for COVID-19-related misinformation

In Singapore, language and cultural barriers hinder migrant workers from accessing timely and accurate official information regarding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, according to a new study.

“Our study provides a rare window into the views of low-waged migrant workers during COVID-19 outbreaks. Despite being confident in the government’s response, participants in our study showed a high reliance on health-related rumours,” the researchers said. “Our findings inform public health agencies as they seek to address migrant worker communities amidst the pandemic.”

Between 22 June and 11 October 2020, 1,011 low-waged migrant workers (mean age 33.2±6.7 years, 100 percent men) were surveyed regarding their confidence in the government and exposures to COVID-19-related information. In particular, participants were asked if they had heard, shared, or believed rumours regarding the pandemic.

Most of the participants had at least secondary-level education (89.4 percent). At the time of the survey, 35.7 percent had already had COVID-19. Notably, 90.0 percent of respondents said they were either very or somewhat confident that the government could control the spread of COVID-19. [J Migr Health 2021;doi:10.1016/j.jmh.2021.100069]

Such high levels of confidence in the government translated to low rates of fear for their health, with 60.4 percent saying they were not scared at all or not very scared. Similarly, 59.7 percent were not concerned that they may lose their jobs during the pandemic. Among respondents who had not already tested positive for COVID-19, 79.2 percent said they were unlikely to be infected in the future.

Binary logistic regression analysis showed that those who had finished secondary and tertiary education were more than twice as likely to be confident in the government as regards COVID-19 control.

Participants also reported spending 1.98±2.83 hours per day searching for COVID-19 news and 1.86±2.48 hours discussing the pandemic on social media. Of notable concern, 88.9 percent of participants had been exposed to at least one COVID-19-related rumour, with a mean exposure of 2.64±1.53 rumours per participant.

More than half (54.2 percent) of participants believed at least one rumour, most common of which was that drinking water could prevent infection. In contrast, only 16.4 percent of participants reported that they shared such COVID-19 rumours with others. Logistic regression revealed that for every 1-year increase in age, participants were 5-percent more likely to believe COVID-19 related rumours. No predictors for sharing these rumours were identified.

“In this study, we described, for the first time, confidence in government and the spread of rumours amongst migrant workers involved in COVID-19 outbreaks. As similar clusters have arisen amongst migrant communities worldwide, this line of work is critical from both a public health and humanitarian standpoint,” the researchers said.

“As Singapore’s COVID-19 response is perceived as high-performing globally, the government may have gained confidence in this manner. Correspondingly, we urge further research to understand the views of migrant workers across different host countries,” they added.