Covid-19: Safety practices in high risk settings

Dimapur, Aug. 5 (EMN): The principal director of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Vizolie Suokhrie has issued the following guidelines on safety practices in high risk settings to prevent transmission of Covid-19.

Truckers transporting essential commodities:

1. Entry of vehicles shall be allowed within a specific period during the day as fixed by the district task force (DTF).
2. No passengers shall be allowed to travel in any of the trucks.
3. All crew members shall be screened for fever by thermal scan at the point of entry.
4. Crew member(s) with symptoms- fever, cough and breathlessness will be subjected to further medical examination.
5. All crew members shall mandatorily wear face mask at all times and wash hands frequently with soap and water or with hand sanitisers.
6. Dhabas and amenity providers at designated places identified by the district administration for truckers/travellers shall provide adequate dining space to ensure minimal contact, social distancing, foot-operated hand washing facilities as well as clean and hygienic toilets/washrooms.
7. All crew members shall remain inside the vehicle and shall not mingle with anyone during loading and unloading of consignment.
8. On completion of the loading and unloading of the consignment, the truck shall be required to proceed towards its destination immediately. Local transporters requiring to stay back must compulsorily remain in home isolation and observe safety measures.

Taxi and auto rickshaw

1. All taxi and auto rickshaw drivers should mandatorily maintain a daily log book of all travellers with the following details: Name, Phone, date of travel.
2. The driver and the passengers should mandatorily wear mask at all times. No passengers will be allowed to travel without mask worn correctly.
3. Hand sanitiser should be carried at all times and all passengers must sanitise their hands before boarding.
4. The driver should mandatorily carry appropriate disinfectants and periodically disinfect frequently touched surfaces of the vehicle such as doors and window handles, seats, overhead hand grips, etc.
5. The vehicles should be washed daily and disinfected periodically.
6. Drivers will not assemble or gather in groups at taxi/auto rickshaw stands.
7. Limitation on the number of passengers will be as per existing state guideline for lockdown measures.
   Shops including takeaway outlets
8. All shopkeepers shall provide hand washing facilities- soap and running water or alcohol- based hand sanitiser.
9. Customers and shopkeepers are to wear face masks compulsorily at all times. The policy of “No Mask, No Entry” must be imposed.
10. Time-bound sales/promotion offers that have the potential to draw a crowd within a limited time period is strictly prohibited.
11. Frequently touched surfaces such as railings, door knobs, handles, floors, billing tables/counters etc. are to be cleaned everyday with 1% sodium hypochlorite or any other effective commercially available disinfectant.
12. Any staff with symptoms of fever, cold, difficulty in breathing and other Covid-19 symptoms should not be allowed to come to work and must be reported to the district surveillance unit immediately.
13. Shopkeepers shall discourage customers from touching commodities indiscriminately. Assistants may be put in place for the same.
14. Strict physical distancing must be imposed at all times by limiting the entry of customers. The number of customers (maximum of 50% of the capacity) to be allowed at any given point of time should be mandatorily displayed by all shop owners. Smaller/medium establishments should whenever possible provide service without letting customers come inside the shop. Markings for ensuring physical distancing should be indicated wherever applicable.
15. There should be no crowding at the billing counters.
16. A rope/ribbon barricade/queue manager will be placed at the entrance of the shop to regulate entry of customers.
17. The salesperson handling items/commodities must frequently wash hands /use hand sanitizer before and after dealing with every customer.
18. In case of cash payment, customer should be encouraged to pay the exact amount to reduce physical contact.
19. Management should introduce electronic transactions such as POS card swiping machine, mobile payment, etc to facilitate cashless transaction and minimize physical contact.

All shops and establishments with home delivery services must ensure the following:

1. The delivery personnel shall wear face mask and hand gloves at all times.
2. The delivery personnel will not enter the house compound or the house during delivery and shall maintain adequate physical distance.
3. The delivery personnel will carry hand sanitiser for use before and after each delivery.
4. Online payment/cashless transaction is recommended.
5. Log book of all customers with phone numbers must be maintained daily.

Offices and workplace including banks and post offices

1. Workstations will be arranged with adequate physical distance between employees/workers and there should be no crowding / socialising.
2. There should be adequate natural ventilation (windows, doors open for cross ventilation, exhaust fans working) in all rooms.
3. Arrangements may be made for thermal screening at all points for entry.
4. All persons within the office shall wear face masks at all times.
5. Adequate hand washing points with soap and water/foot operated sanitiser dispensers should be available at points of entry as well as in other strategic points.
6. A logbook for all visitors with name and phone number clearly mentioned should be maintained every day in all offices. Visitors should be restricted on all days.
7. Opening of office canteens will be subject to state lockdown guidelines.
8. Staff to use hand gloves while handling bank notes/ postal letter and parcels. However, hand washing / use of sanitiser should be followed strictly after every activity.
9. Strict physical distancing must be imposed at all times by limiting the entry of customers. The number of customers (maximum of 50% of the capacity) allowed at any given point of time should be mandatorily displayed at strategic points and should be regulated by the security. All counters, queue line (inside and outside) should have markings on the floor for physical distancing.
10. All ATMs shall be provided with hand sanitisers by the concerned banks.