Ladysmith tyre company shuts down over COVID-19 cases
A tyre plant in Ladysmith has shut its doors after four employees tested positive for COVID-19.
Sumitomo Rubber SA's first case was a man who did not exhibit symptoms during a screening but fell ill while working the night shift last week.
CEO Riaz Haffejee says the man's wife, who's also an employee and another worker tested positive on Thursday with the fourth infection confirmed yesterday.
Haffejee says due to the increasing number of cases, they've decided to close the Ladysmith plant for seven days.
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"As far as we know, all cases were brought into the company from the communities. I think we now got 16 people who are quarantined."
He says they have made sure the people who had direct contact were put on immediate quarantine and they get tested.
Six out of those tests came back negative and they are waiting for the remainder of the results.
Haffejee says safety measures have been beefed up at all their tyre plants.
South Africa has confirmed 16 433 positive cases of the coronavirus, 286 deaths and 7 298 recoveries.
