Health Safety: DGHS gives guidelines on reopening
The government has recently issued a set of guidelines on health safety measures that have to be strictly followed after the reopening of industries, businesses, educational institutions and services amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) prepared the guidelines on May 2 for the institutions, establishments and various professionals to prevent further spread of the deadly virus that has claimed more than 200 lives in Bangladesh.
Signed by DGHS Director General Abul Kalam Azad, the guidelineshave identified 43 types of establishments and arranged them in different categories.
The guidelines asked the government, non-government organisations and individuals to cooperate until the pandemic ends.
There are some common directives for all the stakeholders, including setting up of thermal scanners to check the temperature and keeping disinfectants at the entrances of every establishment.
Wearing a mask is compulsory for everyone working in a factory, the guidelines suggest, adding that objects that are frequently touched and placed that are frequently visited should be disinfected multiple times a day.
Every establishment must have separate waste disposal areas and they must monitor the employees' health regularly.
For restaurants, thermal scanners should be installed at the entrances and record of employees' health status should be maintained.
Dining tables should be disinfected every time after use.
For saloons, aprons, scissors and other equipment should be disinfected after serving each customer. Chairs at salons will have to be set up 1.5 meters apart.
Rail stations must have disinfectants and proper waste disposal systems.
Passenger with a higher-than-normal body temperature would be placed at the isolation centres set up in stations, each train will have a separate carriage so that passengers with novel coronavirus symptoms can temporarily be placed there.
Buses will have to be disinfected after each trip. Buses will keep some empty seats during the trips. Launches will also have similar arrangements.
Aeroplanes will have mini-quarantine facilities onboard. Planes will keep some seats empty too like buses.
The terminal building will have a quarantine facility. Each passenger will have to go through a temperature checkup before flying, and upon landing.
Workers with flu, fever, sore throat, cough or runny nose symptoms will not be allowed into factories. They will be sent back to home, with medicine, and remain under observation for at least three days, the guidelines said.
For government offices, office hour should be reduced and work from home should be encouraged.
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