Production suspended at 28 Malaysia factories of world's biggest glove maker after Covid-19 infections
KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian glove maker Top Glove will suspend operations in 28 of its factories in Klang, in Selangor, after more than a thousand employees tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday (Nov 23).
Announcing this, Senior Minister (Security cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the closure would allow for the testing and quarantining of workers at the world’s largest glove manufacturer.
“I am made to understand that today alone, there are 1,067 positive cases. On the advice of the health ministry, today’s meeting has agreed to close these 28 Top Glove factories in Klang in stages to enable the workers to undergo testing and quarantine,” the minister told a news conference.
A total of 1,889 positive cases had been recorded as at Monday, he added.
Top Glove’s worker dormitories in Klang and its surrounding areas are currently under Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) curbs. The curbs will be in effect until the end of this month after 215 Covid-19 cases were reported on Nov 15.
Under the EMCO, no one will be allowed to enter or leave the area for 14 days while health officials conduct intense health screenings. Food and medicines are distributed to people inside the lockdown area.
Nine of Malaysia’s 13 states and its three federal territories – Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan – are now under a partial lockdown called Conditional MCO (CMCO) as the government tries to come to grips with a third wave of Covid-19 cases in the last two months.
Under the CMCO, inter-district travel is restricted to emergencies or for work, and mass gatherings are banned.
Top Glove makes 220 million disposable rubber gloves daily, and the company’s value has multiplied by at least six times this year – making it the second-largest listed company in Malaysia – due to a sharp increase in demand during the pandemic.
Shares in the company fell 10 per cent on Nov 17 after the tightened movement curbs were first announced.
On Monday, the shares were up marginally from Friday’s closing following its listing on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices under the Emerging Markets category.
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