Jaguar Land Rover is hit by Covid outbreak as four workers test positive and whistleblower claims staff are ‘dropping like flies’
- Four workers have been diagnosed with Covid-19 at JLR’s Solihull plant
- A number of other workers have been told they must self-isolate at home
- Nationwide more than 1,700 new Covid-19 infections were confirmed by 9am
- The seven day rolling infection rate has hit the highest level since June 3
Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed an outbreak of Covid-19 at its Solihull plant – with four workers testing positive.
The company has also revealed other employees who may have come into contact with the confirmed cases were now self-isolating.
A whistleblower employee, who asked not to be named, claimed staff in the paint shop were among those to have tested positive.
A spokeswoman for JLR said: ‘We can confirm that four employees based at our Solihull manufacturing facility have tested positive for COVID-19 and are self-isolating.
Jaguar Landrover has confirmed an outbreak of Covid-19 at its production plant in Solihull after four workers tested positive for the disease
New figures released today showed that 41,527 people have died within 28 days of being diagnosed with Covid-19 after the government announced a change to the way the death figures were calculated. More than 1,700 lab cases of Covid 19 were confirmed in the 24 hours up to 9am today – the highest total since June 4
‘Through contact tracing and working in conjunction with Public Health England, we have identified anyone who has been in close contact with those individuals at work and they are also self-isolating.
‘The health of our workforce remains our primary concern and a deep clean of the area has been undertaken. We continue to follow all Government and NHS advice.’
The employee claimed workers were ‘dropping like flies’.
They added: ‘So far all the cases have been in the paint shop, but loads of other staff come and go out of there.
‘The cleaners go in there, drivers, staff from other departments – anyone can just wander in and out and catch the virus.’
When production began at the plant after lockdown, strict measures were put in place to protect workers’ health.
These included temperature checks, two metre distance markers, face visors in sections where that is not possible, introduction of one-way systems in plants, enhanced cleaning regimes and hand sanitisers.
‘An extensive review of all production lines, engineering facilities, office areas and communal spaces has been undertaken,’ the JLR spokeswoman said.
‘This is to create robust protocol and guidelines to ensure effective social distancing, hygiene and health monitoring measures are in place as the company gradually returns to manufacturing.
‘Employees’ health and wellbeing are at the centre of this plan and, with the implementation of the new protocol, employees will experience a significant number of changes to their working day from the moment they enter the site.
‘We continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and follow the guidance of all relevant authorities in the markets in which we operate.’
The latest government figures show that a total of 6,732 new people tested positive for Covid-19 in England in the week to August 26, an increase of 6 per cent in positive cases on the previous week and the highest weekly number since the week to June 3.
The Government said that as of 9am on Thursday there had been a further 1,735 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus – the highest daily total since June 4.
It added that a further 13 people had died in the UK within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Thursday, but a new overall total was yet to be confirmed.
The overall total on Wednesday was 41,514 but separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have now been 57,300 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.