One of the largest privately-held pharmaceutical companies in India has shut down its formulations manufacturing plant in Ahmedabad after 26 of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus, Reuters reported on Friday. A senior government official said Cadila Pharmaceuticals closed its Ahmedabad plant as five employees tested positive last week, and 21 this week.
“We had collected samples of 30 employees of Cadila on May 5, and 21 of the samples returned positive a day later,” Ahmedabad District Development Officer Arun Mahesh Babu said. He said that after the plant was shut down, 95 employees were quarantined and sanitisation work had begun.
In a statement, Cadila Pharmaceuticals said: “Recently, 26 of our employees from our Dholka manufacturing facility tested positive for COVID-19. Following this, we have closed our operations on our own.” The company added that it is cooperating with the local administration to ensure the security of its Ahmedabad facility.
Babu alleged that the company did not follow the required protocol despite some employees showing symptoms, the Ahmedabad Mirror reported. He said that as the infected employees were not part of the firm’s manufacturing division, it was unnecessary for them to have been working.
Ahmedabad is one of the worst-affected cities in India. As of Friday, the city had recorded 4,912 cases of the coronavirus, including 317 deaths.
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