Zambian Breweries is providing free facemasks to its 1,000-plus employees and their families in a bid to shield them against COVID-19.
The country’s largest brewing company is also providing mealie meal packs to unionised staff, along with members of its two women-led micro-small enterprises linked to its business supply chain.
This comes after the Zambian government made wearing facemasks in public mandatory.
“We have been undertaking a comprehensive assessment on the effects of the current situation on our employees, mainly related to the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact in our nation,” said Zambian Breweries Country Director Jose Moran.
Mr Moran explained that the move is aimed at keeping employees, together with their families, healthy and safe during the outbreak.
“This gesture will not only help protect our employees when they are out in society. It will also help ensure their family members are protected too,” he said.
The brewing company is giving six masks to married employees, while singles are receiving three. The facemasks were made by the Zambia Federation of Associations of Women in Business.
Married employees are getting one facemask for themselves, one for their spouse, and four for their dependents. Singles, on the other hand, are getting one facemask for themselves, and two for dependents.
“We cannot be a thunderous team without our employees. Equally, our employees cannot be thunderous without their families. Therefore, together we thunder and beat COVID-19,” the ZB country director observed.
And, Mr Moran explained that the brewing company is giving out mealie-meal to support and further appreciate the employees for their sacrifice in tough times.
“We understand that staying home is not easy. More so, we do not wish our employees to stay home without their staple food. This is our way of appreciating our staff for their unwavering commitment and resilience during this time,” he said.
Health experts recommend wearing face masks, including homemade cloth masks, in public to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
