The Saudi Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Weqaya) has updated the health protocol manual for workers’ accommodation to control the spread of coronavirus. The manual includes procedures for prevention and safety, surveillance and health awareness and education.
The workers’ accommodation must have surveillance cameras to monitor their movement and must be manned by the sufficient number of security guards.
The requirements include a ban on visits of friends and relatives to workers ’accommodation, all workers to be checked upon their entry and exit from their accommodation at a designated area.
The manual also requires those responsible for the accommodation to make arrangements to measure the temperature of all residents at least once a day, make available hand sanitizers in all rooms, toilets, and other areas of the housing, including entrance and passages. Awareness stickers and leaflets in the languages the workers know shall be placed in key areas of the accommodation including halls, entrances, and passages.
The protocols also require to sterilize and clean the floors at regular intervals; new ventilation in bedrooms and sitting rooms; separate bedrooms or minimum four-square meter space between each worker in the common bedroom; medical isolation rooms for workers suspected of infection; a separate place for dumping garbage; and a contract with a specialized company to combat public health disasters.