DOH crafts "return to work policy"

The Department of Health (DOH) is crafting guidelines for companies and businesses that will be allowed to resume operations beginning May 16. 

Health undersecretary and spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said the so-called return-to-work policy will require companies to have their employees screened for COVID-19 symptoms.

“Ibig sabihin po na if bumalik na ang ating mga empleyado ay magkakaroon ng screening process at ating tignan kung sino ang may symptoms para sila ay mahiwalay at ma-test (Before employees return to work, they have to be tested so that persons with suspicious symptoms can be separated for further testing),” Vergeire said.

She added that employees who manifested COVID-19 symptoms 14 days before the screening should also be isolated so employers will be able to identify workers who are fit to work.

Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III backed the proposal of the DOH, saying it will ensure that workers are not infected by the coronavirus.

Both Vergeire and Bello support the imposition of standard health protocols such as the use of face masks and observance of social distancing.

The government has allowed some companies in modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) and general community quarantine (GCQ) areas to resume work in a bid to open the country’s economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.