Nokia's Tamil Nadu-based telecommunications equipment factory had to shut down suddenly after some employees tested positive for Covid-19. The closure decision was made last week after 42 employees at the Finnish Sriperumbudur plant near Chennai tested positive for coronavirus. While Nokia has been silent on the actual number of workers who have tested positive at its factory in Sriperumbudur, an official familiar with the situation revealed that at least 42 had been infected with the virus. It seems that social distancing and changing dining rooms as a precaution against the pandemic are not enough.
Hoping to resume operations soon
In a statement issued by Nokia, the company said the plant had resumed operations "on a limited basis" in recent weeks when the federal government lifted nationwide lockdown restrictions effective March 25. . The ease of lockdown is said to boost the struggling economy by allowing manufacturing companies to resume operations, though strict precautionary measures are in place to keep workers safe. The company hoped to resume manufacturing as soon as possible at a limited level with the skeletal strength of the workers. Nokia is not the first manufacturer to resume operations and shut it down in a short period of time due to Covid-19 cases. Recently, Oppo, the Chinese smartphone company, had to close its Greater Noida plant after six factory workers tested positive for Covid-19. The company had a workforce of 3.000 employees after the lockdown at its manufacturing plant and was on rotation and taking precautions against Covid-19. Despite the precautions, the company, which employs 10,000 people in India, closed its doors as soon as it reopened production. This may comfort the citizens that although the number of coronavirus infections in India was 1,45,380 on Tuesday, the total number of deaths was 4,167, a small number considering the population of the country. Via Economic Times