The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has instructed business operators to prepare for company isolation rules for close contacts of positive coronavirus cases and speed up using antigen test kits (ATKs) for their staff members.
Bangkok and its adjacent provinces are still recording the highest number of new Covid-19 cases each day.
People tend to contract the virus at the workplaces of their firms, before carrying the virus to family members, doctors say.
CCSA assistant spokeswoman Apisamai Srirangson yesterday said the Department of Medical Sciences (DMS) is speeding up programmes to educate firms to use ATKs properly, as well as stepping up company isolation measures.
The company isolation principle is similar to other isolation measures implemented in Bangkok.
The DMS also urged firms to ensure their readiness to provide shelter for personnel. Businesses must be able to accommodate more than 100 infected staff members, and ensure safe disposal of waste, Dr Apisamai said.
Meanwhile, industrial estates in Samut Sakhon, Chachoengsao and Ayutthaya began implementing factory accommodation isolation (FAI) and "Bubble and Seal" measures to curb Covid-19 transmission, said Veeris Ammarapala, governor of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT).
As the virus spreads into factories across the country, the IEAT instructed factories to conduct guidance studies for FAI and Bubble and Seal.
Beds must be provided for no less than 10% of staff and the area must be spacious enough for isolation with doctors, it said.
For the Bubble and Seal measures, infected people will be isolated if the infection rate is detected at more than 10%.
The plant will remain operational, while at-risk groups will be closely observed.
