The State government has urged all industries to ensure that workers and staff aged 45 and above are vaccinated in the next two to three weeks, to control the spread of COVID-19. Senior officials of Industries and MSME Departments had a meeting with industry associations on Wednesday.
According to Coimbatore District Small Industries’ Association president M.V. Ramesh Babu, and Southern India Mills’ Association secretary general K. Selvaraju, who took part in the meeting, the government has said that if an industry had more than 100 workers, vaccination camps could be organised on the industry premises. If larger units have in-house medical centres, these can be used as vaccination hubs so that nearby industries also benefit.
Industries can also tie-up with private hospitals and get the workers and staff aged 45 and above vaccinated, added Mr. Selvaraju.
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The officials advised the industries to be proactive and take necessary precautionary measures.
With the number of COVID-19 cases spiking every day, “the government has asked industries to comply strictly with all standard operating procedures, to ensure workers wear masks, use sanitisers, and ensure physical distancing,” he said
It has also asked the industries to test and quarantine new workers and those coming from other States before they joined work. “The officials said that there would be random inspections and if a unit was found violating the standard operation procedures, they would take action,” Mr. Ramesh Babu said.
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They also clarified that there were no plans for a lockdown and indicated that there would be more restrictions if the cases go up, he said.
The associations have also been asked to improve awareness among all the units, staff and workers about the precautionary measures to be taken.
“We are considering the possibility of organising mass vaccination camps at the Codissia Trade Fair Complex,” Mr. Ramesh Babu added.