The Kia Motors plant in West Point remains closed today after the company extended a suspension of operations for an additional two weeks.
Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia was slated to reopen April 13, but the company once again cited supply-chain concerns and the ongoing efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia as it pushed back the reopening to April 27.
The Korean-owned auto maker said in a statement that it will continue to clean and disinfect various work stations during the closure.
Kia said in late March it had not had any infections confirmed among its workers but didn’t say in its most recent statement whether that had changed. A spokesman did tell Global Atlanta that the company has not laid off any workers so far.
Meanwhile, some other large, foreign-owned Georgia plants have reopened with new sanitation protocols in place recommended by the CDC. That includes Kubota’s tractor factories in north Georgia, which closed in late March after three of its combined 3,000 team members were diagnosed with COVID-19.
