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Tougher new measures at factories to curb COVID spread
Factories with more than 500 employees must conduct compulsory PCR tests for a selected group of its employees on a daily basis, according to a gazette notification to be issued soon.
Health Ministry Secretary Major General Dr Sanjeewa Munasinghe said the move was part of stringent measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, similar to the manner in which it spread from the garment factory in Minuwangoda.
He said that under the guidelines to be gazetted, random checks would also be carried out with the assistance of Public Health Inspectors on a section of the employees and this would be done on a daily basis. This would be in addition to carrying out PCR tests on a selected group of employees daily.
The cost of the tests would have to be borne by the factory, he said.
The Secretary said checks would also be carried out on factories to ensure they were following other guidelines including wearing of masks, maintaining physical distancing and restricting the number of employees on a particular shift.
In terms of the guidelines, the PHI should receive from the factory a daily report on the number of workers tested. The report would also be sent to the area’s Medical Officer of Health for action if necessary.
The factory should appoint an officer to monitor the implementation of the guidelines.
Failure to follow the guidelines would be considered a violation of quarantine laws and the offenders would be penalised.
Already a gazette notification on health safety measures including wearing of facemasks and physyical distancing has been put into effect.