Construction workers in Phuket must stay on site, get tested for Covid weekly

With Covid-19 clusters reported at construction camps, workers at sites in Phuket must stay at the camp and must undergo testing for the coronavirus once a week. For weeks, many workers have been unable to leave camps not only in Phuket, but in other provinces like Bangkok.

Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew announced that the measures were approved by the provincial communicable disease committee during yesterday’s meeting. The order will be in effect until further notice.

Under the new measures, workers must be tested for Covid-19 with antigen kits once a week. If less than 10% of the employees test positive, the infected workers will be transferred to a prepared facility for additional testing to confirm the positive result and they will be treated at the facility.

If over 10% of the employees test positive, employers must find a location to quarantine all of their workers for the standard 14 days. During the quarantine period, employers need to provide their workers with basic necessities such as food and water. The employers also have to request medicine and basic medical supplies from a local state hospital.

The migrant workers who live outside of a campsite and test positive via an antigen test have to reach out to a community isolation centre or call 099-3144838 for initial treatment.

The order also says that local administration organisations must prepare a community isolation centre at every tambon, or sub-district. The order also emphasised that all workers, regardless of nationality, are prohibited from eating food or drinking alcohol in groups as gathering in groups is a violation of the safety rules.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post