Plastic divider curtains are set up on the tables to ensure safe distancing at a factory canteen. Changshin Vietnam Company which employs over 42,000 workers in Dong Nai Province recently had to suspend operations after 60 workers of the firm tested positive for Covid-19 – PHOTO: VNA
HCMC – The Changshin Vietnam Company which employs dozens of thousands of workers in Dong Nai Province has had to suspend operations after more than 100 of its workers were found to be positive for Covid-19 through rapid and RT-PCR tests.
The manufacturer of shoes for export, which is located in Thanh Phu Commune, Vinh Cuu District of the province, has allowed its workers to stay at home until July 19 to team up with the local health authorities to conduct Covid-19 tests, disinfection and contact tracing.
A Dong Nai newspaper report said there is growing concern over community transmission as Changshin Vietnam's workers reside in multiple local communities. This also puts other companies in the area at risk.
To date, nearly 28,000 workers of the firm have been tested. Today the remaining 4,000 workers will be tested, according to Dong Nai newspaper.
According to the provincial health department, a high number of infections in many workshops showed that the infection cluster at the firm has spread widely in its factory and other localities where the workers live.
New cases are forecast to rise sharply in the upcoming days. The provincial Center for Disease Control is ramping up testing and contact tracing to slow the spread of the virus, Vu said.
The southern province of Dong Nai is home to over 1.2 million workers, with 600,000 of them working at 32 industrial parks.
According to the provincial government, the pandemic has hit many industrial parks in the province such as Long Binh, Song May, Loc An-Binh Son, Long Thanh, Nhon Trach 2 and two major labor-intensive companies, Pouchen and Changshin, keeping nearly 90,000 workers temporarily away from work.
The Dong Nai Center for Disease Control reported 102 fresh infections this morning, July 16, including 65 cases in Bien Hoa City, 20 cases in Vinh Cuu District and the rest in the Cam My, Trang Bom, Long Thanh and Dinh Quan districts.
In the country's current fourth wave of the coronavirus, which began on April 27, Dong Nai has had 807 Covid positive cases, with 362 of them in Bien Hoa City alone.
