Currently, most of the countries are fighting against COVID-19 and are trying their best to control it, and so is the situation in India. Even the industries are also finding it hard to come back to normal, as they have to work with less staff and fewer working hours, and have to strictly follow all the guidelines provided by the government.

With the beginning of lockdown 3.0, the Government of India gave some relaxations to the industries, so that they can begin with their manufacturing operations. Following the relaxations, Nokia Solutions and Networks India also commenced their operations in the Oragadam factory, near Chennai, sometime after April 20.

However, today , 42 employees from the same factory tested positive for COVID-19. The health department officials also found that 32 more employees were in possible contact with the infected employees, and they were being tested. As a result, the factory temporarily shuts down again.

Reflecting on the situation, a Nokia spokesperson said,

"We had been operating at a highly restricted level for the past few weeks and implemented measures to limit the risk of infection within our factory. The measures were put in place in compliance with local regulations and Nokia’s own internal processes. We have now temporarily suspended operations and undertaken further fumigation and sanitization activities and will continue to monitor the situation closely."

Established in 2008, the Chennai facility is Nokia’s biggest production unit in the world, serving both domestic and global markets with nearly half of all radio base stations produced exported to global markets. And this temporary shutdown of this big factory will deepen the shortage of supplies.

However, the health of the employees remains the foremost goal in this situation. And we hope that the infected employees recover soon.

Last week, Chinese smartphone maker Oppo too suspended operations at the outskirts of Delhi after over nine of its employees tested positive for the novel coronavirus.