Workers at Daikan Việt Nam Co., Ltd. at the Amata Industrial Park in Đồng Nay Province. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Thousands of workers in the southern province of Đồng Nai returned to work on Tuesday after a three-month furlough due to COVID-19.

The Đồng Nai Industrial Zones Authority has allowed 11 companies with more than 17,500 workers to resume production without requiring them to live on-site.

Twenty one enterprises that had workers to live on-site now allow them to commute from home.

Pousung Việt Nam Co., Ltd in Bàu Xéo Industrial Park on Tuesday did COVID rapid tests that provide results within minutes of more than 5,500 workers before resuming operations.

But Lê Nhật Trường, chairman of its trade union, said the company is struggling with a labour shortage with only 20 per cent of workers turning up.

It hopes the number would gradually increase, but that depends on the vaccination rate, he said.

Only workers living in COVID low-risk areas are allowed to come to work, making it difficult for enterprises, he said.

Vaccination for workers

Most enterprises in the province have urged the administration to give priority to fully vaccinating workers in the manufacturing sector to ramp up production, Lê Văn Danh, deputy head of the Đồng Nai Industrial ZonesAuthority, told a meeting on Monday.

They also want the Government to partly subsidise the cost of rapid tests since it puts a large financial burden on them, he said. 

More than 1,254 enterprises in the province followed the so-called ‘three on-site’ model that required workers to stay at the workplace and not go home during the pandemic, while 600 remained closed, he said.

The industrial zones authority has urged provincial authorities to set up quarantine and health centres at industrial parks in preparation for a possible spike in new cases as movement restrictions are lifted.

The province, a manufacturing hub, has 31 industrial parks with 630,000 workers.

Cao Tiến Dũng, chairman of the province People’s Committee, said support for workers would be stepped up to stop their exodus to their hometowns.                      

The People’s Committee has instructed industrial zones to allow enterprises with safety plans to reopen soon. — VNS