Coronavirus infections force Ford to suspend production at recently reopened plants

The Ford plant in Chicago.
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The recently re-opened Ford assembly plant in Chicago had to stop production on Wednesday, the second day in a row operations ground to a halt because of the coronavirus, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Chicago plant produces Ford Explorers and Lincoln Aviators. On Tuesday, the factory was closed when two people tested positive for COVID-19 at a parts-assembly facility one mile away from the plant, a Ford spokeswoman said; both passed an initial temperature check when they arrived at work, and it's unclear how they tested positive later in their shift.

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The Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan, was also closed on Wednesday after a worker tested positive for COVID-19, the company spokeswoman said. That factory makes F-150 pickup trucks, Ford's most popular vehicle. Ford's spokeswoman told the Journal that "due to incubation time, we know these employees did not contract COVID-19 while at work. Our protocols are in place to help stop the spread of the virus."

Ford started reopening its U.S. factories on Monday after being closed for nearly two months. Before entering the plants, workers must have their temperatures checked, and they wear bracelets that beep if they aren't properly social distancing, the Journal reports. Plastic barriers have also been put up between work stations. Production is slow for now, as there are fewer employees working and the machinery is still being tested.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.