Workers of a company in Van Trung Industrial Park, Bac Giang Province, wear face masks at work. The province has allowed 98 companies to reopen as the Covid-19 situation is being brought under control- PHOTO: VNA

HCMC - Bac Giang Province, the country’s current biggest Covid-19 hotspot, has allowed 98 companies with over 15,760 workers to resume operations, as they meet the requirements for safe production.

Workers at the factories must test negative for Covid-19 before returning to work, and keep a safe physical distance from each other while working or eating.

The number of businesses eligible to reopen in the province has doubled compared to a week ago. Over the past half a month, the province has had 15 businesses eligible to resume operations each day.

It is estimated that the northern province lost over VND2 trillion a day after it shut down four industrial parks to curb the spread of the pandemic in late April.

Many companies in Bac Giang are large suppliers and exporters, so the closure of industrial parks has caused disruptions in the supply chains.

Therefore, the province has to allow companies that meet requirements for Covid-19 infection prevention and control to reopen step by step.

The province is facing a shortage of workers as many of them are still isolated in quarantine centers. Therefore, it has asked districts to help workers who test negative for Covid-19 and complete their quarantine period to return to work at the earliest.

Bac Giang has reported over 4,000 Covid-19 cases in the fourth Covid-19 wave since April 27. The Covid-19 situation in the province is being brought under control and the provincial government is determined to fight off the pandemic in the next 15 days.