Coronavirus infections force Ford to suspend production at recently reopened plants


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.
On Wednesday morning, workers were sent home after a Lear Corp. factory that makes seats for Ford had to stop production. The Journal obtained text messages Lear sent to employees that said a person on the first shift tested positive for COVID-19.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new high
Speed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures