A worker at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ transmission plant in Kokomo, Ind., has tested positive for the coronavirus, but production at the facility is continuing.
The employee is receiving medical care and those who worked near him or may have come in contact with him have been put in home quarantine, Jodi Tinson, a company spokeswoman, said in an email Thursday.
Fiat Chrysler declined to provide the worker’s name, age or other personal information such as his recent travel history for privacy reasons.
The carmaker has disinfected his work station and is sanitizing the entire plant, which employs about 4,000. Output is running at a normal pace, but the company is adjusting break times to avoid crowding and deploying social spacing to increase distances between workers.
The UAW is working closely with Fiat Chrysler on measures necessary to protect its members, vice president Cindy Estrada said in a statement.
The Italian-American company said Wednesday it may have to close some parts factories in northern Italy to support a nationwide campaign to contain the virus. It also is slowing production at some plants there to enable greater spacing between workers.
Fiat Chrysler also is canceling all in-person meetings unless “business critical” and conducted meetings through video conferencing technologies.
Automakers also have canceled non-essential travel.
Ford Motor Co. said its plants in North America remain unaffected. General Motors spokesman Jim Cain said the Detroit automaker has not had any cases of the coronavirus in its North American plants yet, citing such measures as reduced travel and restricted entry to plants as helping.
How the No. 1 U.S. automaker would respond to a positive test would depend on the situation, he added.
“You do plan to operate with a certain amount of absenteeism, but every facility has a different operating plan,” he said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
