HÀ NỘI — The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has disrupted several companies in Việt Nam as thousands of Chinese workers have been unable to return to work after Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.

JY is an apparel manufacturer located in an industrial park in Lý Nhân District, Hà Nam Province. It employs a total of 41 foreigners, among whom 31 were Chinese citizens, said the company's manager Park Yung-keun.

Park told Nông thôn Ngày nay (Countryside Today) newspaper that all the Chinese workers returned to China for the most important holiday of the Lunar New Year, and only 16 had so far managed to return.

Those employees, however, were yet to start working but had to take health checks and constant tests to determine if they were infected with the deadly COVID-19 virus, Park said.

“The Chinese workers are being put in quarantine in separate rooms at the (company’s) dormitory for 14 days since the day they arrived in Hà Nội,” he said.

Hà Nam Department of Labours, Invalids and Social Affairs director Nguyễn Mạnh Tiến said the province was one of 24 localities that host foreign employees in Việt Nam. There were no Chinese companies in the province, he said, though up to 540 Chinese were registered to work in companies and factories in the area.

The COVID-19 virus – the official name given to the novel coronavirus by the World Health Organization on Tuesday – had killed 1,115 people and infected 45,171, mostly in mainland China, as of Wednesday afternoon.

Believed to originate in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the virus rapidly spreads to 28 countries and territories since late January, including Việt Nam. The country on Tuesday confirmed its 15th infection in a three-month-old baby.

Việt Nam decided to suspend all flights to and from mainland China in response to the outbreak, leaving many Chinese employees unable to return to Việt Nam after returned home for the holiday.

A report by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) shows there are about 91,500 Chinese workers with work permits in Việt Nam. Forty per cent of them, however, are yet to return to Việt Nam.

Lack of specialists

Labour expert Nguyễn Thị Lan Hương warned that the outbreak was putting pressure on businesses when most Chinese employees in Việt Nam were specialists or highly skilled workers.

“Most Chinese employees who returned to China during the outbreak will not come back to Việt Nam soon, or were asked to refrain from going to work, or were put under quarantine once they arrived in Việt Nam,” Hương said.

“This will cause difficulties for companies which employ Chinese workers. A shortage of specialists and highly skilled workers can also be expected if the outbreak prolongs.”

Deputy labour minister Lê Văn Thanh said the ministry sent a precautionary notice to companies which employ foreigners, especially Chinese workers, to prepare for a lack of skilled labour.

“Those companies should proactively give technical training to senior workers to prepare for the shortage if the outbreak lasts longer,” he said.

Labour exports suspended

Labour export companies were also facing hardships with Việt Nam’s biggest labour markets of Japan, South Korea, or Taiwan all reporting cases of the COVID-19 virus.

LOD labour export company deputy general director Lê Nhật Tân said the outbreak was hitting the industry hard.

“If the outbreak continues longer, many of our contracts to send workers overseas will be delayed, or even face the risk of termination if the companies receiving the workers are located in disease clusters,” he said.

The overseas labour management department deputy director Nguyễn Gia Liêm said that both MoLISA and the department sent documents to labour export firms asking them to not send workers abroad during the outbreak.

The companies must also train workers on disease prevention measures and strictly follow the medical requirements of Vietnamese authorities and their destination countries. — VNS