AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/23 Report--

According to foreign media reports, another employee at Toyota's Japanese factory was diagnosed with novel coronavirus and had to shut down the production line immediately, while dozens of Toyota employees needed home isolation.

A male employee in his 20s tested positive in novel coronavirus. The employee was examined on March 21 and confirmed on March 22, Toyota said in a press release issued on the 22nd.

It is understood that the employee, who worked on a production line at Toyota's Takaoka plant in Toyota City, was the second employee on the production line to be infected with novel coronavirus, and he worked face-to-face with the employee of Toyota's first confirmed case.

The first diagnosed employee at Toyota's Takaoka plant developed fever on March 14, and the employee was asked to be quarantined at home and tested positive for the coronavirus on March 19. But Toyota only took measures to sterilize and require close contacts to be quarantined at home, and soon resumed production.

Now, a few days later, another employee was infected with the virus, and Toyota had to stop running the production line immediately.

Toyota said it would close the production line at the Takaoka plant from March 23 to March 25 and disinfect the workplace in order to disinfect the workplace and consider further measures to prevent the virus from spreading. After the latest test results, more employees will need to be quarantined at home, and the total number of employees in home isolation has reached 33.

"Toyota apologizes for the anxiety or concern that this news may bring to people in the surrounding areas, and we will do our best to take measures to prevent the further spread of the virus and provide timely updates when changes occur," the company said. "

If employees are infected with novel coronavirus, if there is also a diagnosis among those who are in close contact with him, the possibility of collective spread cannot be ruled out. Therefore, in order to prevent cross-infection among employees and the spread of the virus, companies and factories will be required to take emergency measures of temporary shutdown and shutdown, and contacts will isolate themselves for observation.

It is understood that Toyota Takaoka plant mainly produces RAV4, Corolla sedan and travel version, as well as Harrier crossover for the Japanese market.

Toyota has declared a state of emergency as the epidemic shows signs of spreading in other areas. Toyota will begin to close all its plants in Europe this week, North American plants will stop production for two weeks from the 23rd, and factories in the Philippines and Malaysia will also take temporary closure measures.

Akio Toyoda said at a news conference held by the Japan Automobile Association on March 19 that novel coronavirus has had a great impact on the production and sales of the global automobile industry. but Japanese auto companies will make every effort to ensure that production of passenger and commercial vehicles remains normal. He also said that due to problems such as insufficient supply chain and market demand, Toyota will flexibly adjust its production status, but will not stop production.

Toyota and other Japanese automakers have also suspended production in North America in response to the spread of the novel coronavirus epidemic after closing European plants, the Nippon Keizai Shimbun predicts. The move will reduce the global production of Japan's seven largest automakers by about 1/3. "just as we are finally able to restart business in the Chinese market, we are once again facing outbreaks in Europe and North America," said a Japanese car executive. We can hardly see the end of the situation. "

Japanese carmakers Honda, Mazda, Subaru, Nissan, Suzuki and Mitsubishi have briefly closed a number of overseas plants.

Japanese media expect auto parts manufacturers that ship electronic components, transmission and other components from Japan to North America to be hit hard as the epidemic spreads. Similarly, a prolonged pause in global car factories threatens domestic parts production in Japan.

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