Volkswagen‘s Mexican unit on Monday said about 2% of its workers tested positive for coronavirus.
The automaker said these workers had contracted the disease at some point, underlining the challenge faced by automakers in resuming factories before the coronavirus pandemic has peaked in Mexico.
Volkswagen last Tuesday started sending workers in reduced numbers back to its plant located in the city of Puebla, where the German automaker and it’s luxury brand unit Audi have major plants.
Many other major automakers, especially from the United States and Japan, had restarted operations in other parts of Mexico a couple of weeks ago.
The state of Puebla, however, has been among the parts of the country that have been worst hit by the coronavirus and had postponed reopening factories.
Volkswagen, which has tested workers for COVID-19 infections and coronavirus antibodies, said staff who tested positive had contracted coronavirus during the period after the factories closed in March and before restarting work.
About 45% of the company’s 11,364 workers and collaborators had been tested and almost 2% tested positive for the virus, the automaker said in a statement, equivalent to about 100 workers.
About 185,122 people in Mexico have been confirmed as being infected with the coronavirus. The virus has killed 22,584 people in the country.
Volkswagen said that the plant in the coming days will focus on training and will prepare for the start of manufacturing.
