A Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV employee at a transmission plant in Indiana has tested positive for the coronavirus, but production will continue as normal, the automaker said Thursday.
The Kokomo Transmission Plant employee is the first known person in the United States employed by one of Detroit’s three automakers to test positive for COVID-19, according to representatives for the companies.
The Fiat Chrysler employee is a United Auto Workers member and believed to be salaried, said Brian Rothenberg, a spokesman for the union. Fiat Chrysler declined to disclose further information on the employee.
The employee is receiving medical care, according to a statement from the automaker, and is working with local health authorities to support his treatment.
“Consistent with CDC guidelines and the company’s own protocols, the company has placed into home quarantine his immediate co-workers and others in the facility he may have come into direct contact with,” the company said in a statement. “Additionally, the company has deep cleaned and disinfected his working area and is deploying additional sanitization measures across the entire facility, retiming break times to avoid crowding and deploying social spacing.”
The UAW is actively monitoring and reacting to issues related to the spread of the coronavirus, said Cindy Estrada, director of the UAW’s FCA Department.
“We are working closely with FCA on this first discovery of the virus at one of their facilities as well as on the precautions and measures necessary to protect our UAW FCA members and everyone who works in our facilities,” Estrada said in a statement. “The UAW FCA department will continue close communications with FCA on measures that may need to be taken as this very serious situation changes daily and hourly.”
The plant produces transmissions for the Chrysler 300 sedan, all Dodge nameplates, the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV, and the Ram 1500 pickup. It also produces components for transmissions and engine block castings.
The patient is the first in Indiana’s Howard County, according to its health department, which added: “The risk to the public is believed to be low.” There are 12 confirmed cases in the Hoosier State, according to local media reports.
General Motors Co. currently has no cases of coronavirus in its facilities that it’s aware of at this time. Company spokesman David Barnas said GM does have plans in place if a case occurs, but details were not shared.
Three Ford Motor Co. employees abroad have been diagnosed with the respiratory illness. Two were in China and were quarantined but recovering. A third at a technical center in Germany tested positive and was quarantined; 30 people with whom the employee came in direct contact were sent home. The center also was disinfected.
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