JAPANESE FIRM IN LAGUNA SHUTS DOWN AS 290 WORKERS TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID

A local subsidiary of Japanese manufacturing firm Nidec Corp. operating at an industrial park in Laguna province has been shuttered by the Philippine government after 290 of its workers tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Kyodo news agency and Mainichi Shimbun reported on August 1, 2020.

The Laguna provincial government served the order against Nidec Philippines Corp., imposing a 24-hour shutdown and required the company to implement specific health measures in response to the high number of positive cases.

"Nidec is cooperating with the government. I hope all industries will cooperate with the provincial government," Christoper Sanji, Laguna chief information officer, told Kyodo. Sanji said all of the 290 employees who tested positive in swab tests were asymptomatic.

The government ordered the company to conduct contact tracing, daily disinfection of facilities and medical treatment of employees who tested positive for the new coronavirus.

The order also mandates restriction of movement within company premises, as well as the designation of a quarantine facility provided by the company. The plant, which manufactures spindle motors for hard disk drives as well as other related components, is situated at the Laguna Technopark Special Economic Zone, some 50 kilometers south of Metro Manila.