Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Sunday said if many workers of a factory are diagnosed with coronavirus, then it will be kept closed for several days.
He also urged garments owners to arrange separate quarantine for workers so that those who are sick do not face any inconvenience.
“Health rules should be followed strictly,” Maleque said at a briefing after an inter-ministerial meeting at the secretariat on opening industries and factories on limited scale.
Narayangaj, Gazipur and Dhaka will remain under strict surveillance of law enforcers so that no one can enter or go out, he said.”Workers who’ve already come to Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur have to stay at their respective places. Anyone leaving their places will have to stay in home quarantine,” said Maleque.
He said that the main topic of the meeting was how garments should follow the rules of health. Garment owners should run factories following the rules. Workers should work maintaining social distancing and be well sanitised when entering. Factory owners have been urged to arrange more tests if required, Maleque said, adding that a committee should be formed to monitor workers’ interest. Besides, it is also required to form a sub-committee highlighting focal point.
The district administration has been asked to prepare lists of workers leaving the areas, said the minister.
Confirmed coronavirus cases in Bangladesh jumped to 9,455 after the health authorities announced detection of 665 new cases on Sunday. Two patients died in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 177.
A number of these confirmed cases are RMG workers. Health experts had warned of a massive coronavirus outbreak in the labour-intensive RMG sector and recommended strictly following health guidelines.
Economists and health experts said it is too early to ease the shutdown and allow businesses to reopen, even on a limited scale, as there is no sign that the virus is slowing down.
They suggested the government to strictly enforce the shutdown at least until Eid-ul-Fitr.
