Quang Nam taking solid pandemic action

THACO workers having their temperature checked at the entrance

Universal Alloys Corporation (UAC) is operating an aerospace component factory with the registered investment of $170 million in Danang Hi-tech Park, employing 600 workers to manufacture aerospace components all for export. Therefore, COVID-19 prevention efforts are vital to the survival of the company.

Vo Van Phuoc, UAC representative in Vietnam, said that the company has tightened pandemic prevention procedures in the factory as new cases hit the city over the last few weeks. Specifically, the company is strictly following the Ministry of Health’s (MoH) 5K message. Back-office staff are working from home while factory workers now work in shifts and keep 2-metre distance. The company has also set up partitions at the canteen and divided workers into smaller groups to avoid larger gatherings at lunchtime.

“The impact of the measures has affected the work progress. However, we need to comply with the measures to maintain the operation of the factory during this challenging time. The company is making efforts to complete the orders,” Phuoc said.

Nearly 500 companies are operating in Danang’s industrial zones (IZs) and employ around 75,000 workers, evidently posing high risks of community transmission of the coronavirus. Pham Truong Son, director of Danang Hi-tech Park and Industrial Zones Authority said, “Since the emergence of new cases in An Don IZ, we have collaborated with local healthcare authorities to take samples for coronavirus testing of over 7,200 workers across Danang’s IZs, with all being negative. Around 1,000 workers at Tho Quang Seafood were also tested.”

The authority has also developed different action scenarios in case of an outbreak in these zones. “Factories in Danang are maintaining normal operation while the compliance of COVID-19 prevention is raised to the highest level. However, the pandemic has wreaked havoc on many companies with 70 suspending operation,” he added.

To ensure production, the local management authorities are supporting businesses to prepare documents in a bid to seek the city’s approval for their expert arrivals to Vietnam.

In Quang Nam, THACO Chu Lai IZ and its large number of workers is actively taking measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. A representative of Truong Hai Auto Corporation (THACO) said that the company has set up a steering committee for pandemic prevention and control, which has built response plans, established a database system, issued regulations, and synchronously implemented prevention measures throughout the industrial park.

THACO also requires all employees to strictly comply with the MoH’s 5K message and implement medical declarations via online software, updating for any symptoms while also installing the Bluezone app to monitor daily exposure, among other measures.

“THACO Chu Lai has requested all officers and employees to sign a commitment form to comply with COVID-19 prevention measures and minimise travel to infected areas. We are determined to control the spread of pandemic in the zone to avoid production disruption,” the representative added.

Faced with urgent requirements to contain and prevent the pandemic in IZs, both Danang and Quang Nam are asking local businesses to immediately establish their pandemic teams to guide and remind workers to comply with the prevention measures at work as well as around working hours.