Labour Ministry to embark on hygiene inspections over virus fears

AMMAN — The Ministry of Labour has set up a control room at the ministry’s inspectorate to monitor measures put in place to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The purpose of the ministry’s precautionary measures is to complement the efforts of other government entities, especially those of the Ministry of Health, and to coordinate with labour facilites to combat the virus, said Labour Minister Nidal Bataineh in a statement made available to The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

Bataineh said that the ministry is scheduled to form a high-level emergency committee, chaired by the labour ministry’s secretary general, to implement the preventative plan for all communicable diseases and coronavirus-related contingencies.

The minister also directed the ministry’s inspection cadres to raise awareness about the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

The statement added that all ministry inspectors are to begin field visits on Wednesday to cover all institutions, particularly industrial establishments and labour accommodations, to check on their adherence to sanitary and safety measures.

In light of the first confirmed coronavirus case in Jordan, the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) has also stepped up preventive measures within its jurisdiction.

GAM has distributed medical face masks and gloves to its sanitation workers and installed hand sanitisers in its facilites, according to a GAM statement made available to The Jordan Times on Tuesday.

The statement added that GAM has also organised various awareness-raising workshops on preventing the spread of the virus.