Employees Go Back to the Office, in Orderly Fashion

For companies that are considered essential, operations are resuming this week taking special measures into account. This includes sectors that had previously not been considered essential, such as automotive, construction, mining and aerospace. Companies engaged in other activities will have to wait until further notice; their reactivation is based on four categories, as outlined in a report by El Economista.

Reactivation is based on the government’s earlier-announced traffic-light system, which consists of a red, orange, yellow and green phase. Currently, essential sectors can get to work as the traffic light is considered to be red. According to El Economista, transport-related industries, car and car-parts producers, mining companies and those engaged in aerospace or its supply chain join the list of activities that were never halted in the first place, including banks, senior homes, gas stations, the foods and beverages industry, markets and supermarkets, public transportation services, freight transport, the chemical industry, hardware stores, postal and courier/messenger services, private security, telecommunications, police and other public security, hospitals and various health-related services, airports, agriculture, fishing and livestock, day cares and funeral services.

Going back to work will not happen without organization, from one day to the next. It will be “gradual, orderly and careful,” said Hugo López-Gatell, Deputy Minister for Prevention and Promotion of Health at the Ministry of Health.

Non-essential companies that will reopen once the traffic light turns to orange, yellow and green will be placed in four distinct categories. This is determined by two main factors: the social value of the activity and the number of people required for it to operate. The categories are as follows:

Category A: High social value - Low number of people

Category B: High social value - High number of people

Category C: Low social value - Low number of people

Category D: Low social value - High number of people

Every week, the government will give an update as to whether a new category can restart activities. In addition, new hygiene measures must be taken into account, López-Gatell explained. The new measures will be considered customary for a potential duration of years, as COVID-19 will not simply disappear in the short term.