Gujarat: Migrant workers' employers asked to follow COVID-19 norms

As migrant labourers have started returning to Surat in Gujarat, the city civic body has asked their employers to follow the state labour department's guidelines for their mandatory COVID-19 testing and quarantine or else face action.

As per the guidelines, any migrant labourer showing coronavirus symptoms will have to be mandatorily quarantined for seven days before joining work, the Surat Municipal Corporation said on Monday.

Also, all migrant labourers returning to Surat will have to undergo antibody tests for COVID-19. If they are not found to have antibodies, they will have to undergo an antigen test, the civic body said.

If the antigen test is negative even if the labourer shows symptoms of COVID-19, then RT-PCR test will be conducted, it said.

"If any labourer is found to have coronavirus symptoms, he/she will have to be mandatorily quarantined for seven days," it further said.

The civic body further said if employers do not follow the guidelines, action will be taken against them under Indian Penal Code Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and their factories or shops will be sealed.

Detection of an antibody through a test reveals if the person has already been exposed to an infection.

The antigen test reveals if a person is currently infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.

Till Sunday, Surat district reported 22,605 COVID-19 cases and 894 deaths due to the disease