Employee became ill in the first week of resumed production
One week after an employee of a Ford parts supplier died from COVID-19 and less than two weeks since the Ford Hermosillo plant re-opened on June 1, an Hermosillo Ford employee has died from “suspected” COVID-19.
According to a report by Sonoran newspaper El Imparcial, a Ford union representative said that the employee had worked until June 5, when he requested sick leave due to coughing and fatigue.
The employee’s family took him to the hospital six days later, on Thursday, June 11, and he died less than 24 hours after being admitted, on Friday. It is possible that his death is listed as “suspected” COVID-19 because the test results have not yet been returned from the lab.
According to the union representative, random testing at the plant in its first weeks of operation had revealed four asymptomatic employees who tested positive for the coronavirus. It is not clear if Ford conducted contact tracing or expanded its testing based on the results.
In addition, Ford employees who had direct contact with the man have been isolated.
Hermosillo is currently a source of significant community spread for the coronavirus. The latest statistics from the Sonora Secretary of Health indicate nearly 1,300 confirmed coronavirus cases in Hermosillo and 58 deaths.
Ford implemented strict sanitation and hygiene protocols when it recently reopened its North American facilities. But this death may indicate that even with the best safety measures the manufacturing operations in Hermosillo may have been restarted too soon.
A Facebook comment at the end of the El Imparcial story indicates some sentiments regarding the death and the reopening of American manufacturing in Mexico.
It simply says “es mas importante los intereses de los americanos que la vida de los mexicanos.” The interests of Americans are more important that the lives of Mexicans.