The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training has issued a list of eleven measures for factories in the garment, footwear, textile and travel goods sectors to follow during their first month of reopening.

The measures list below are aimed at ensuring a safe workplace and preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Workers’ salaries will be cut by half to start, but they will retain monthly benefits and are eligible for two overtime hours per day as well as on Sunday.

Factory employees will work in rotation, with 50 percent of the workforce alternating every two weeks for the first month that the factory is reopened.

Priority to work the first two-week shift of the month will be given to workers who have received their second COVID-19 vaccination dose.

Employers will issue masks.

They must ensure that sanitation protocols are followed.

Regular temperature checks must be undertaken.

Employers must maintain adequate ventilation for their workplaces to further prevent the spread of COVID-19.

In an effort to maintain social distancing, employers must negotiate with transport providers to halve the number of passengers taken to work normally per vehicle

Two administrative members must present weekly reports to government officials updating them on the implementation of the measures and alerting them to any suspected COVID-19 cases.

Rapid COVID-19 tests will be reserved at health facilities to account for 10 percent of each factory’s workforce.

When 80 percent of a factory’s workforce is vaccinated with their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, that factory can fully reopen.