Firms rejoice as Covid-hit employees allowed back to work

Vu Tien, owner of a garment company, breathed a sigh of relief when Long An province allowed people infected with Coronavirus, but having no symptoms or mild symptoms, to go to work.

Tien’s company in the southern province normally has 100 employees, but only 40 people are working since the rest have Covid-19.

With the firm having to fulfill many orders in less than a month, Tien faced the risk of failing to make good on his delivery commitments and paying contract compensation.

Therefore, Long An’s policy of letting infected people (F0s) go to work proved a lifeline.

“Most of our company’s F0 cases have mild or no symptoms. I was forced to give them a break for isolation in line with the government’s regulations, though the work progress was badly affected. The new policy made our staff extremely excited and me somewhat less worried,” Tien told The Investor.

Tien also plans to encourage employees to work overtime to deliver goods as committed.

Up to now, only two southern provinces, Long An and Ca Mau, allowed asymptomatic F0 cases and those who are in close contact with F0s (F1s) to go to work.

Other provinces, including Ho Chi Minh City, are considering this option. Many businesses in the city are facing a serious shortage of personnel as the number of F0 cases has spiked.

F0 workers in HCMC said they would be happy if they could go to work since it ensures them an income.

Hoang Long, a worker in the city, discovered he was infected earlier last week after a quick test. After notifying his boss, he was asked to self-isolate at home, although he did not show any serious symptoms.

According to regulations, Long will have to remain home for isolation and treatment, and will only be allowed to return to work when he tests negative.

Being “on leave” means no income. Long, therefore, strongly advocates the policy to allow asymptomatic F0s to go to work.

The other side of the coin

Many business owners, however, expressed concern about this policy.

Minh Thuy, director of a HCMC-based company, said that since the end of February, the number of her employees has decreased by one third due to Covid-19. In the past few weeks, all the “healthy” employees have taken over the work “burden” from F0s who self-isolate at home.

Although the work progress was affected, and many employees were overloaded, Thuy disagreed with the policy of allowing F0s to return to the workplace.

She said her company is small, so it is not possible to guarantee a separate working space for F0s. “If F0 cases are allowed to return to work, sooner or later, the remaining personnel will become F0s. Then, our company will fall into a real crisis.”

Other business owners are concerned that, if applied, such a policy might worry “healthy” workers.

Many business owners recommend that companies consult “healthy” employees before allowing symptom-free F0s or F1s to go to work.

Experts said allowing F0s to return to work is a policy suitable to the current pandemic situation, as Vietnam has shifted from the “Covid-free strategy” to “safe and flexible adaption to Covid-19, with effective control of the disease”.

But easing restrictions does not mean giving up on disease prevention, they cautioned.

Businesses that allow F0 employees to go to work must ensure anti-pandemic regulations are strictly abided by, like wearing facemasks, to minimize the risk of community transmission.