Health Minister Zahid Malik has urged clothing factory owners to ensure the safety of workers, sending a warning that a surge in coronavirus cases due to the reopening of the plants will leave their employees untreated.
The minister’s message on Sunday underlines workers’ vulnerabilities to infections in an industry that tends to disregard safety protocol, reports bdnews24.com.
Many workers have headed back to Dhaka and other areas to join work since apparel factories reopened in the last week of April amid the shutdown.
Following a meeting over the reopening of factories at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday, Malik said: “The topic of today’s meeting was how the clothing industry will follow the health regulations we provided.”
“The virus spreads mostly through transports. So we’ve asked them [industry owners] to maintain safe transportation. The owners will take responsibility for the workers’ transportation. We’ve advised them to pay special attention to safety at their homes and the places where they eat.”
The failure to ensure safety for workers means the government will be unable to ensure treatment if they get infected.
The minister mentioned that workers who had already arrived in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur must remain in the areas until cases of infections drop.
“To keep track of those who depart for some reason, we have instructed owners to list the workers who have travelled to Dhaka, Narayanganj and other places. Lists will be created in individual districts and if someone does depart, he or she will be quarantined,” the minister said.
Bangladesh confirmed two more deaths from the coronavirus in a daily count, taking the total to 177 on Sunday.
The tally of COVID-19 infections spiralled to 9,455 in the same period after another 665 people tested positive from 5,368 samples in the biggest single-day spike.
