Ministry instructs factories how to stay safe amid pandemic

A worker in Bac Ninh has his body temperature checked before entering the factory (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – Inspections conducted by the Ministry of Health at more than
200 factories and companies showed the limited capacity of some facilities in
and control work, said Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan
Tuyen on May 27.

Tuyen,
who is deputy head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention
and Control, chaired a teleconference with authorities and leaders of local
health departments in all 63 cities and provinces nationwide. Businesses,
manufacturing facilities and industrial parks were instructed on COVID-19
prevention and control.

According
to the health ministry, only 5 to 10 percent of businesses and factories
updated their on the COVID-19 safety map. Some localities have
not prepared COVID-19 prevention plans at industrial parks and every factory.

Tuyen
asked enterprises which have not recorded COVID-19 cases to actively conduct
s, set up response teams and ask workers to fill in health
declarations.

“At
least 20 percent of labourers who have suspected symptoms must have health
check-ups. Workers have to keep a safe distance from each other at the
workplace and during lunch time,” he said.

Factories
which reported positive cases must zone off, quarantine, and thoroughly trace
infections, minimising the number of infections spreading to the community.
Daily buses carrying workers to the factories must have windows opened, reduce
the number of people by half and be disinfected every day.

Localities
which have positive cases in both community and factories need to take
preventive measures at residential quarters and workplaces in order to prevent
cross infection, he said.

The
Deputy Minister noted that businesses and industrial parks must think about
long-term plans in case the outbreak lasts a long time.

Putting
F1 cases in quarantine at home should be considered if there are many F1 cases
in one living area. Taking testing samples, medical supervision and domestic
waste collection at home quarantine sites are conducted the same as centralised
quarantine sites, he said.

Businesses
must conduct testing on workers and resume operation at virus-free factories,
he said.

Since
the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Vietnam, industrial parks in Bac Ninh and Bac
Giang have become hot spots.

The
health ministry is asking localities to build COVID-19 safety protocols at
industrial parks as clusters at factories are new in this wave./.