In the principle of responding to COVID-19 and pursuing socioeconomic development in a well-coordinated way, enterprises should shoulder primary responsibility in implementing closed-loop management and resuming work and production in an orderly and efficient manner while keeping risks under control, so as to ensure the security and stability of the industrial and supply chains. The following guidelines for COVID-19 mitigation should be observed:

Enterprises should shoulder primary responsibility

1. Enterprises should establish a taskforce for COVID-19 prevention and control and production and operation. Management heads at all levels are the first person responsible for COVID-19 mitigation in their respective departments, and should ensure the life, health and safety of their employees.

2. Enterprises should make plans for COVID-19 mitigation and closed-loop management. Equal emphasis should be given to people, goods and the environment. Efforts should be made to ensure that people on key posts report to duty, and key production equipment start operation with anti-epidemic measures well implemented. Enterprises that fail to take comprehensive mitigation measures or to ensure safe production will be denied resumption of work or production.

Classified management for different zones

3. Implement classified management for different zones, including the factory entrance, production area, living area, washroom, waste disposal site and public area.

4. Based on exposure to the external environment, different COVID-19 mitigation standards should be adopted for different zones. Those in medium and high risk zones must wear N95/KN95 masks, and those in low risk zones can wear disposable medical surgical masks.

5. Different zones must be separated physically. All should move only between the workplace and residence, working and living in designated areas so as to minimize direct contact between people in different zones and eliminate risks.

6. Employee dormitory should be guarded strictly against access to other personnel. Those working in the same office, team or group on the same shift should be assigned the same residence room. A silent period with separate accommodation and living amenities should be arranged for newly returned employees.

7. Stagger meal times, keep distance between diners, reasonably arrange tables and chairs in the dining area of the canteen, face them in the same direction whenever possible, and install table dividers. Keep a safe social distance of more than one meter from others when picking up meals. It is recommended to eat separately in a safe environment.

8. Strengthen sanitization and disinfection of various places, pay special attention to COVID-19 mitigation in closed, semi-closed and common space, and effectively disinfect logistics venues inside the factory.

9. Strengthen meeting management and meet virtually through video or telephone if conditions allow. In meetings that must be held physically, participants must take good personal protection measures. The frequency, length and attendance of such meetings must be strictly controlled.

Enforcing stricter management of employees

10. Classify and keep track of all employees onboard and ensure they are all subject to COVID-19 mitigation measures. Uniform COVID-19 mitigation requirements should be applied to the core management team, managers of auxiliary posts, logistics workers, dispatch personnel from suppliers and third-party personnel. Enterprises should strengthen COVID-19 response education, training and publicity to raise employees’ awareness and capacity of self-protection.

11. Enforce closed-loop management across the board, ensure contactless shift change between different shifts, and minimize employees’ outside trips. Visits by outsiders should be strictly controlled. Any visitor must present proof of negative result of a nucleic acid test performed within 48 hours and is subject to negative result of an on-site rapid antigen test.

12. Conduct and document daily health monitoring of all employees and implement a daily dual-test regimen, one rapid antigen test in the morning and one nucleic acid test in the evening. Employees who present with fever, cough, fatigue and other COVID-19 symptoms should be quarantined at temporary observation sites. All employees are required to be fully vaccinated and those eligible should complete the booster shot.

13. Prohibit non-essential gatherings and prevent employees from visiting closed public places or crowded areas with poor air ventilation.

14. Pay close attention to employees’ physical and mental health and help them solve difficulties in both work and life to keep them in good form.

Strengthening logistics management and reserving anti-epidemic supplies

15. Set up dedicated routes and fixed sites for production and living materials delivered to the factory, and isolate them from other zones. Fixed personnel shall be arranged for receiving, unloading, storing, unpacking and disinfecting such materials.

16. Drivers and passengers of logistics vehicles of the enterprise must possess a negative result of nucleic acid test (within 48 hours) or antigen test (within 24 hours), and drivers should do proper protection including wearing masks and gloves.

17. Make proper reserves and management of anti-epidemic supplies, such as antigen test reagents, protective masks, alcohol-based disinfectants, hand sanitizers, infrared thermometers, thermal imaging thermometers, protective clothing, protective glasses and disposable medical gloves. It is recommended to reserve anti-epidemic supplies for 14 or more days.

18. All used protective materials should be collected centrally and disposed of safely in accordance with the requirements.

Making emergency response plans and relevant preparations

19. Formulate emergency response plans. Should there be any emergency, the enterprise must do its best to contain the spread of the virus to ensure absolute safety of production. Emergency response drills must be shored up, and communication with local authorities must be enhanced. A liaison and transfer channel should be established for those tested positive for COVID-19.

20. Set up ad hoc zones for quarantine and medical observation in proportion to the number of employees. Enterprises with a large number of employees should build a mobile filed hospital in the factory. Employees tested positive for COVID-19 (either in nucleic acid test or antigen test) should be reported to the head of the enterprise and to the district CDC, and be transferred to the ad hoc quarantine zone. Their close contacts should be found out and put under quarantine in a designated venue (separate from the positive cases).

21. District and sub-district authorities as well as industrial parks should render strong support to enterprises for resumption of work and production, providing tailor-made guidance to each and every enterprise for their COVID-19 mitigation efforts. Nucleic acid test sites should be set up with relevant services provided. Medical waste should be disposed in a timely fashion. Meanwhile, anti-epidemic supplies and daily necessities must be made available to the people, in particular, to those in most need of help.