LONDON – Toyota Motor Corp is halting the work of its production facilities in the UK and France, following the emergence of a new coronavirus strain, reported the Sputnik news agency, quoting The Japan Times.
Production will be suspended beginning today due to transport delays that have started to occur as countries restricted air traffic to prevent the new virus variant from spreading, the newspaper said.
Meanwhile, Kyodo reported that while Toyota factories were scheduled to close starting from Thursday for the winter holidays, the shutdown was brought forward, with Toyota's engine factory and vehicle production bases in the UK now closing from today and tomorrow, while its assembly plant in France is shutting down this afternoon.
Last Saturday, UK health officials had announced that the country had identified a new variant of the coronavirus that is 70% more infectious than other Sars-Cov-2 virus strains. Although the new coronavirus variant is said to infect more easily, it does not appear to be more deadly or pose any concerns for vaccines.
The UK government has practically locked down parts of the country, including here, after admitting that more than half of all new Covid-19 cases were caused by the new strain. Many countries, including France, have suspended passenger travel to and from the UK in a bid to prevent the import of the new virus strain. – Bernama, December 22, 2020
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