Ministry instructs factories how to stay safe amid pandemic
Inspections conducted by the Ministry of Health at more than 200 factories and companies showed the limited capacity of some facilities in COVID-19 prevention and control work, said Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen on May 27.
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 than200 factories and companies showed the limited capacity of some facilities inCOVID-19 prevention and control work, said Deputy Minister of Health Do XuanTuyen on May 27.
Tuyen,who is deputy head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Preventionand Control, chaired a teleconference with authorities and leaders of localhealth departments in all 63 cities and provinces nationwide. Businesses,manufacturing facilities and industrial parks were instructed on COVID-19prevention and control.
Accordingto the health ministry, only 5 to 10 percent of businesses and factoriesupdated their outbreak status on the COVID-19 safety map. Some localities havenot prepared COVID-19 prevention plans at industrial parks and every factory.
Tuyenasked enterprises which have not recorded COVID-19 cases to actively conductinspections, set up response teams and ask workers to fill in healthdeclarations.
“Atleast 20 percent of labourers who have suspected symptoms must have healthcheck-ups. Workers have to keep a safe distance from each other at theworkplace and during lunch time,” he said.
Factorieswhich reported positive cases must zone off, quarantine, and thoroughly traceinfections, minimising the number of infections spreading to the community.Daily buses carrying workers to the factories must have windows opened, reducethe number of people by half and be disinfected every day.
Localitieswhich have positive cases in both community and factories need to takepreventive measures at residential quarters and workplaces in order to preventcross infection, he said.
TheDeputy Minister noted that businesses and industrial parks must think aboutlong-term plans in case the outbreak lasts a long time.
PuttingF1 cases in quarantine at home should be considered if there are many F1 casesin one living area. Taking testing samples, medical supervision and domesticwaste collection at home quarantine sites are conducted the same as centralisedquarantine sites, he said.
Businessesmust conduct testing on workers and resume operation at virus-free factories,he said.
Sincethe fourth wave of COVID-19 in Vietnam, industrial parks in Bac Ninh and BacGiang have become hot spots.
Thehealth ministry is asking localities to build COVID-19 safety protocols atindustrial parks as clusters at factories are new in this wave./.
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A worker in Bac Ninh has his body temperature checked before entering the factory (Photo: VNA) 
