TUNIS, March 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) —Employees at a Tunisian factory are churning out 50,000 face masks a day and other protective medical gear after opting to go into lockdown at work.
The 150 workers, mainly women, have isolated themselves at the Consomed factory for a month.
They were spurred on by patriotism as the country battles coronavirus, their manager Hamza Alouini said.
Employee Khawla Rebhi said she greatly missed her family, but her colleagues’ good cheer provided some compensation.
“My husband and 16-year-old daughter supported and encouraged me to do this,” Rebhi, who is in charge of the production line, said.
The factory usually exports its protective gear, but its focus now is to produce enough for the health sector at home.
The North African nation, which went into lockdown on Sunday, has 227 confirmed cases of coronavirus and six patients have died in the last week.
Among those who moved into the factory, which is in a rural area south of the capital, Tunis, a week ago are cooks, a doctor and pharmacist.
On their eighth day of confinement, Alouini said there were still “positive vibes” from everyone.
He said the staff felt the need to isolate at the factory because if the virus spread within the workforce, they would not be able to keep up with the needs of doctors in the country.
“If we don’t work our doctors will not be protected against the virus,” he said.
Rebhi says the workforce’s sense of mission is giving them all hope, but she cannot deny that they are worried about efforts to contain Covid-19.
“I am looking at how other governments are struggling with it in Europe and elsewhere and I can’t help but wonder how a country like Tunisia will handle it.”
