Reza Mahmud :
Garments factory reopening amid national shutdown may deteriorate corona outbreak situation, experts warned.
“It is a wrong decision to reopen the garment factories when the community transmission of the coronavirus has started,” said Professor Dr. M. Muzaherul Huq, former South-East Asia Regional Advisor of World Health Organisation (WHO).
When the government announced national shutdown to contain spreading of coronavirus, the garment reopening by this time is not an acceptable.
We see the government and others trying their utmost to ensure people social distancing and mass awareness, at that time the decision of reopening garments is conflicting with the government’s previous efforts.
He suggested massive action plans to protect garment workers after rejoining their workplaces.
The owners of factories should set their sewing machines at minimum three feet distances.
They should ensure social distancing inside the garments. The workers must wear face masks and handgloves, the factory owners should ensure these matters.
Dr. Muzaherul Huq said, the factory authority should disinfect every place and premises of garment factories including its machines.
They should disinfect toilets of those factories frequently by bleaching powder mixed water.
The authority also should ensure healthy conditions of those workers.
“Movements of the garment workers were limited between their factories and residents before the recent closure. But now, they mixed with common people to create risk of infection. And they are now coming back to their workplaces with groups. It may make the situation vulnerable as they obviously violated all directives of social distancing,” Professor Dr. Kabirul Bashar of Zoology, Jahangirnagor University told The New Nation on Saturday.
He said it was good to continue to open their factories as their movements were in limited places.
The renowned Medical Entomologist said, “The workers surely visited people including their relatives as they got vacation for uncertain days.
“We cannot say that some of those have not mixed with any COVID-19 infected people. Now we find that those workers are returning to Dhaka and other cities with groups. It is surely increasing the risks of spreading coronaviurs among people,” the Professor said.
He suggested to test the workers before entering factories.
Garment factories and Knitware industries were closed recently to contain spread of coronavirus. But the owners announced to reopen it ignoring experts and civil societies warning.
The garment workers were found returning to Dhaka from Mymensingh and different districts in groups by truck and other local transports.
