Prada Restarts Production With High-Tech Coronavirus Testing for Employees

05/05/20

Milan, 30 April 2020 – Following an enforced four-week closure caused by the Coronavirus outbreak, production at the Prada Group recommenced on 20 April 2020 with the reopening of the leather goods, footwear and apparel departments in Tuscany, Umbria, Marche and Milan regions, limited to prototyping and collection samples.

This return to work coincided with the implementation of a full range of measures to protect against infection from COVID-19, including a cutting-edge safety protocol involving double screening of employees (a serological test and a viral test) in partnership with Careggi hospital in Florence. The measures also involve reduced hours, or hours split up over multiple shifts, to ensure orderly access to the sites and to allow workstations to be kept approximately two metres apart. Employees have their temperature taken on a daily basis, and must wear gloves and face masks for the full duration of their shift; in addition, all workstations are supplied with sanitising gel, and the rooms are sanitised every morning and evening.

Patrizio Bertelli, the Prada Group’s CEO, said: “In this emergency situation we have not only been considering when to reopen our manufacturing facilities, but above all how to keep our employees safe from the virus when they did reopen. We immediately sought advice from leading healthcare facilities and from cutting-edge specialist suppliers to identify the top-rated medical technology currently available to safeguard the health of our employees and to combat the virus”.

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