Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Sincethe outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the firstthing Nguyen Thi My Loan does every day at Mishow Ltd.Co in Tokyo isto wash her hands with sanitiser. This is a mandatory requirement for allemployees at the company.

“I am from HCM City. I have been working at Mishow for two years. Currently, noCOVID-19 cases have been reported at the company,” she said.

“I have been given a face mask. Every day, I wash my hands with soapdistributed by the company every two hours. So we feel secure.”

Trinh, another trainee at the same company, said the COVID-19 epidemichad not affected her job much.

“I still work as usual and receive my full salary. To protect myself, I alwayswear a face mask, wash my hands with soap regularly and avoid travellingin crowded spaces. In addition, I also eat different kinds of food toboost my immune function,” she said.

Hiroko Sudo, president cum general director of Mishow Ltd. Co, a knitwearmanufacturer in Japan, said the company had adopted a number of measuresto protect its staff from COVID-19.

“The company cleans and disinfects places where people are often incontact with in the workshop such as door handles, toilets and handrails.The job is done twice a day,” she said.

All employees were asked to wash their hands and disinfect with sanitiser aftergoing out and returning to the company, Sudo said.

She recommended trainees avoid travelling to crowded spaces and only going outwhen necessary.

Mishow has so far receivedabout 100 Vietnamese apprentices. Of them, 21 are working at its factory inHachioji, Tokyo.

“To prevent the spread of the disease, trainees who show flu or fever symptomswill be allowed to stay at home,” she said, adding that going to hospital forcheck-ups immediately was not the right choice given the current outbreak ofthe virus.

Similar actions are also taken by other organisations in Japan.

Mikio Kesagayama, chairman of the board at Tokyo InternationalCommunication Committee (TICC), said the company had organised onlinemeetings with its offices in prefectures such as Hokkaido, Sendai, Nagoyaand Shiga to understand the situation and form a prevention plan.

“We monitor the health of all staff and trainees. They are required to fill inhealth declarations every day,” he said.

TICC has welcomed 2,000 Vietnamese trainees since 1999.

According to Kesagayama, TICC has asked companies that received traineesto take preventive measures including measuring their body temperaturesregularly and recommending they wash their hands and gargle often.

“It is understandable that the Vietnamese Government will take care of itspeople but once they work in Japan, we will take responsibility for managingand protecting their health,” he said.

He also said the Japanese government had a policy to support businesses whichwere affected by COVID-19 epidemic.

Although there have been no  COVID-19 cases among Vietnamese traineesmanaged by TICC so far, TICC and labour training companies have startedinterviewing trainees via Skype. For trainees who are about to finish theircontracts and return home, they have been advised to take direct flights forsafety reasons.

Phan Tien Hoang, an official from Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids andSocial Affairs in Japan, said the ministry had worked with its Japanesecounterparts to update the situation and offer the best healthcare toVietnamese guest workers.

Masahiro Hirakawa, who is in charge of technical trainee affairs under theJapanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, said Japanese authorities wereproviding support to trainees.

The ministry has supplied documents on preventive measuresin Vietnamese to trainees, and instructed employers and organisations toequip them with adequate information, he said, stressing that the provision ofaccurate information was the most important thing.

“We have done our best to make Vietnamese guest workers feel comfortable whilethey are living and working in Japan. If any of them get sick, they will bereferred to a doctor. If the case is serious, we’ll send them to a hospital andask an interpreter to go with them,” Hirakawa said.

The trainees could also contact the Organisation for Technical InternTraining (OTIT) if they needed assistance in Vietnamese.

The Japanese ministry has closely co-ordinated with the labour management boardof the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan on healthcare for trainees.

“No Vietnamese guest workers in Japan have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 todate. If any cases are reported, the company they’re working for will take themto a local medical facility for treatment,” he said.

According to the Government of Japan, there were about 250,000 Vietnameseworkers in the country, including 200,000 trainees./.