Auto maker Bajaj Auto’s Aurangabad plant will be shut for the next two days, after two employees succumbed to the coronavirus infection and 140 other staff tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, the local administration said.
After the first coronavirus case was reported on June 6, the auto company said it had taken all necessary measures as per health protocol norms and all such cases had been reported to the authorities.
The Waluj plant will now be shut for two days to carry out extensive sanitization at the facility, officials said.
Bajaj Auto’s Aurangabad plant has more than 8,100 employees and contractors, and so far 140 cases of the coronavirus infection have emerged at the facility.
Bajaj Auto’s CHRO Ravi Kyran Ramasamy said it has planned downtime for routine maintenance on Saturday and that Sunday is normally closed, news agency PTI reported.
The officials said the company has agreed to shut down the plant for two days and that the entire premises will be sanitized during this period. The officials also said they did not know if the spread of the infection happened inside the factory.
“Our current incidence of 140 cases of Covid-19 is less than 2 per cent of our strength. Two of our infected employees with underlying conditions of hypertension and diabetes have unfortunately succumbed to the infection,” the company said in a statement.
In another statement, the company said, it has planned downtime for routine maintenance on Saturday as it was not operating at full capacity.
Over the next two days, the company will carry out massive screening and examination of workers and residents in Waluj and nearby areas.
A Covid Care facility has been made operational in Bajaj Vihar of Waluj recently, where around 100 coronavirus patients are currently under treatment.
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