AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/25 Report--

According to foreign media reports, a spokesman for the United Auto Workers (UAW) said on Tuesday that two employees at the Fiat Chrysler plant had died after being diagnosed with COVID-19. One worker worked at the Ram pickup truck factory in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and the other at the Cuomo factory in Indiana. It is not clear when the two employees died.

Fiat Chrysler did not comment on the report, saying it was "out of respect for employee privacy."

With the spread of the epidemic around the world, including Fiat Chrysler, Ford and General Motors and other car companies have announced the suspension of factory production.

Fiat Chrysler announced the closure of four factories in Italy on March 11 to support the national response to the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. But the epidemic developed rapidly, and soon there were a large number of confirmed cases in the United States, and Fiat Chrysler officials said it would close its North American plant from March 18 until the end of March.

Prior to this, two employees at the Fiat Chrysler plant had been diagnosed with COVID-19, a Cocomo gearbox factory in Indiana, and the employee was later quarantined from close contacts. But Fiat Chrysler did not shut down production at the plant, maintaining production through consumption of the plant. Another employee is from the Stirling Heights final assembly plant in Shiegen, which Fiat Chrysler briefly shut down after a worker at the Stirling Heights plant was found to be infected with the virus.

In addition, the two major brands General Motors and Ford also announced the suspension of production, which will last until the end of March. Ford and GM will close all factories in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Rory Gamble, president of the UAW, said the UAW asked GM to "put the safety of its members first, follow the advice of government and health officials, and keep workers at home."

It is understood that Fiat Chrysler is the first US car company to have an employee diagnosed with COVID-19 to die. In order to solve the shortage of medical supplies, Fiat Chrysler announced that it will carry out production line transformation through many of the company's factories. In the next few weeks, it will start producing masks to alleviate the shortage of medical supplies, and donate critical medical equipment to emergency personnel and medical personnel.

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