Industrial units to shut only for 24 hours for sanitization if any staff test positive for Covid-19

In a major relief to industrial units, the Uttar Pradesh government has directed that a unit will be shut only for 24 hours in case any employee tests positive for

In a major relief to industrial units, the Uttar Pradesh government has directed that a unit will be shut only for 24 hours in case any employee tests positive for Covid-19. Officials of the industries department said that earlier the premises of any such unit was to be shut for 14 days as a precautionary measure.

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“The directions have now come from the UP chief secretary that any industrial unit where an employee turns positive will now need to shut only for 24 hours, during which extensive sanitization and cleaning process will be taken up by the unit officials. The unit will bear the expenses. Previously, units were asked to shut for 14 days as a precautionary measure,” said Virendra Kumar, deputy commissioner (industries).

The Ghaziabad district has presence of about 27,000 industrial units, including 5,024 small, 149 medium and 45 heavy industrial units. The rest are under micro category and also include those in service sectors like salons, beauty parlours, consultants and architects, among others.

“We have about 17,000 units which have opened up after the lockdown relaxations were announced. Presently, there are about 3.5 lakh workers who have started working. So, the directions received from the government will help the units as they don’t need to shut down for long. On recommendation of the health department we have also asked the units to get tested their workers through the health department,” Kumar said.

He further said Covid-19 positive cases have emerged from two units in Sahibabad Industrial Area so far.

Owners of the industrial units in Ghaziabad have taken a sigh of relief and said that they are also taking every precautionary measures, such as sanitization of premises and thermal screening of workers.

“The units have been able to open after a long time, and the unit owners are taking every precaution. The main entrance is sanitized, and workers are screened through infra red thermometers. Even inside the factory complex, social distancing norms are followed and bills highlighting precautions to be taken up have been pasted,” said Anil Gupta, general secretary of the Ghaziabad industries federation.

Truenat machine to boost testing capability in Ghaziabad

District health officials said that they will also scale up the testing as a team has been sent to Lucknow to take delivery of one Truenat machine. The UP government has already procured 41 such machines while 34 more will arrive in the next three-four days.

“The machine will help us test samples and give report within an hour. We expect that testing operations with Truenat will start by the end of this week. If deployed for 24 hours in three shifts, we will be able to test in-house about 50-60 samples per day,” said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer.

The Ghaziabad district at present has no testing facility and is dependent on labs in Noida, Meerut or Delhi.

“Our daily average sampling capacity is about 250-300, while sampling done by private laboratories is about 75-100 samples per day. Since cases are rising and three major areas of Khoda, Loni and Vaishali are also under sealing, we need more testing to be taken up. The Truenat machine will be very helpful,” Gupta said.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved the use of Truenat, which is used to test tuberculosis (TB), for conducting Covid-19 tests.

According to official data till Tuesday night, the Ghaziabad district had taken 10,487 samples while reports of 467 were pending. The total samples taken up also include samples taken by private labs.

UP government officials said that the chief minister has stressed on increasing the testing capabilities to 15,000 against 10,000 at presen. “Truenat machines have been procured. These machines will now be deployed at hospitals in all districts and we expect that testing will soon touch a figure of 15,000,” said Awanish Awasthi, UP’s additional chief secretary (home).