USA: Air conditioning manufacturer Daikin has temporarily closed its $450m Daikin Texas Technology Park (DTTP) after two employees tested positive for the coronavirus.

Local tv station KPRC had previously reported complaints from Daikin employees at the plant that the company was not following government guidelines for sanitation and social distancing.

An official statement released to the tv station yesterday, announced: “Today, based on a report of an additional case of COVID-19 among DTTP employees, we have made the decision to temporarily close DTTP beginning today until April 13, 2020.”

The plant was officially opened in 2017. Covering an area of approximately 373,000m², and employing 8,000 people, the facility is the fifth largest factory in the world.

Daikin emphasises that this is a temporary closure for the purpose of “optimizing our manufacturing operations to meet the challenges of the current situation”. 

Changes will include staggering start times, changes to the assembly line to maximise social distancing, masks for employees and a temperature check system for all employees.

Europe

Meanwhile, in Europe, Daikin’s applied systems factories in Italy are soon to reopen, it is reported. The main European factory in Ostend is operating at reduced capacity, and its factories in the Czech Republic and Turkey are currently operating at almost normal capacity.