Getz Pharma to screen all employees and their families for coronavirus

KARACHI: Pakistan’s leading pharmaceutical company, Getz Pharma, on Thursday announced that it had decided to test all of its employees and their families for the novel coronavirus.

In a statement issued today, the manufacturer said that it was the first and only organisation in Pakistan to have taken the initiative of testing all the employees for COVID-19.

The factory and head office in Karachi will remain closed till the screening is completed, the statement said. 

“Getz Pharma cares for your health and this has been the vision and mission from day one," Managing Director and CEO of the firm, Khalid Mahmood, said. “Today we feel fulfilled to inform our employees and the world that we are living up to our mission.”

All the offices and manufacturing units of the company would be closed and turned into testing and screening facilities from today, the statement said. For the purpose, 56 employees of the company, including senior management officials, received training in the US for the testing.

The process of the testing, subsequent quarantine, and re-testing is based on the SOPs set by the World Health Organisation. “Only those who are found negative will be allowed to enter the facility and work," the company said, adding that those who are found positive, will be sent home on a paid leave after counselling.

The families of all workers will be tested in the second phase. The CEO of the firm said that they were following South Korea’s example, which has proven to be a successful one in curbing the coronavirus spread.

Free testing for journalists

Getz Pharma has also donated FDA-approved testing kits to the Sindh government and trained the government officials on the use and implementation of these testing kits.

The company has invited all media persons to visit the site and get tested for free by showing their valid press cards and CNICs. “Reporters are also on the frontline of this pandemic, risking their lives by providing information to the nation, that is very crucial at this time,” said Wajiha Javed, Head of Public Health and Research at the firm.