Sharing with VnExpress, Ms. Nguyen Minh Trang, Director of Delta Transport Company Limited, said that on average, drivers must take a test sample every 2 days to get `premature` results, meeting the requirements.
Every month this business loses 300 million VND in PCR testing costs for nearly 150 drivers.
In fact, the requirement for testing `different from place to place` is also making it difficult for transportation businesses.
Mr. Le Duy Hiep, Chairman of the Logistics Association, called this `creating a cost and operational burden for businesses, and for drivers’ health`.
`Businesses are already having a hard time because of the epidemic, but are now even more exhausted as they are forced to be tested so many times when they want to import and export through Mong Cai border gate,` Mr. Hiep said.
Take test samples for drivers in Ho Chi Minh City.
Manufacturing businesses also have headaches because of testing costs.
`In less than 2 months, we had to do 1,600 tests for 300 workers. On average, each person had to be tested 3 times a month,` he said.
The forms of testing used by this business include: PCR sample 750,000 VND per person;
Similarly, My Lan Group (in Tra Vinh) implemented `3 on-site` from the end of July. This enterprise tested PCR for 350 employees at a weekly cost of 60 million VND, or 240 million VND a month.
He also added that, if you include stopping production for testing, the loss to the business in terms of revenue is huge.
Ms. Do Thi Thuy Huong – Member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Electronic Business Association, Vice President of the Vietnam Supporting Industry Association, estimates that testing accounts for 70-80% of a business’s epidemic prevention costs.
Each rapid test kit costs 270,000-280,000 VND. For every 3 days of testing, businesses lose about 3 million VND per person per month for testing costs.
Many businesses have to test workers every 2-3 days on average.
`If a business has thousands of employees, the cost of quarantine and testing is huge, while the cost of one vaccination is less,` she shared.
As with Delta Co., Ltd., Ms. Trang estimates that testing costs account for about 5-10% of the business’s revenue at this time, not including other Covid-19 prevention and control costs such as additional allowances for drivers.
Despite the large cost of testing, businesses still believe that the current method is not scientific.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh My commented that the current request for testing is arbitrary and neither scientifically nor economically effective.
As for testing for workers, although it is necessary even when vaccinated, according to Mr. My, another testing method is needed, based on calculation and science.
Resolution 105 of the Government allows businesses to self-test for Covid-19 and take responsibility, but so far the Ministry of Health has not issued instructions for businesses on this.
Ms. Do Thi Thuy Huong said that the regulations should not be too rigid, making it more difficult for businesses.
With practical experience, according to Ms. Huong, the Ministry of Health has enough data to successfully implement this important Government policy nationwide, on time as stipulated in the Resolution.
Businesses believe that self-testing for Covid will help businesses save significant costs.
The basis for more savings, according to businesses, is that they can proactively purchase testing equipment at lower prices.
`We have assessed that they are businesses with licenses to import and trade this product. Businesses are looking forward to specific instructions on how to self-test to buy test kits and self-test.
While waiting for instructions from the Ministry of Health, businesses are also proactively finding ways to reduce testing costs.
`The enterprise will take the total number of employees and divide it by 28 to get the number of groups. This number 28 is the 2 incubation cycles of the virus. Each day, only one person representing the group will be tested, because if one person
For example, in My Lan there are 350 people, equivalent to 13 subgroups, of which 12 subgroups have 28 people;
Every day, businesses only need to test 13 representatives, then rotate to each person in each cluster.
Mr. My also said that the business has researched a model that can live long term with Covid-19.
In addition, he said, the annual medical examination for employees will be supplemented with antibody testing at an additional cost of 380,000 VND per person to know when workers need to be vaccinated again.
Hoai Thu – Phuong Anh