Volkswagen is preparing to halt production at Bratislava plant

Volkswagen is preparing to halt operations at its manufacturing plant located in Bratislava, the company stated on Sunday, after Slovakia declared a state of emergency because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrinim stated earlier on Sunday that there was a possible coronavirus case at the plant, which is the county’s largest private sector employer.

Volkswagen made no comments on whether that was the case, but said it would start a shut-down process on Monday.

“We hoped that the situation regarding the coronavirus would calm down during the weekend, but that did not happen,” Volkswagen Slovakia Chairman of the Board Oliver Grunberg stated.

Earlier on Sunday, the country declared a state of emergency to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Slovakia has 61 confirmed coronavirus cases, up 17 from a day earlier. No deaths have been reported in the country yet.

Coronavirus has so far infected more than 179,000 people and killed more than 7,100 people worldwide.