School bus manufacturer Thomas Built Buses announced its Saf-T-Liner C2 plant in High Point, North Carolina is closed until April 6, after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus.
A company spokesperson added on Monday that the diagnosis was the only known case at this report.
The shutdown affects all production staff, and corporate employees are now working remotely from home.
“The safety and welfare of our employees is our highest priority, as such Thomas Built Buses, in conjunction with our UAW partners, have decided to implement a temporary suspension of all normal production operations for two weeks starting Monday, March 23,” the spokesperson added. “The return to work date for production staff is Monday, April 6, 2020.”
For 2019, the High Point Economic Development Council said Thomas Buses, a division of Daimler Trucks North America, ranked sixth among the city’s largest employers. In December, the school bus manufacturer had 1,600 employees working at its plants and corporate office. Guilford County Schools ranked fifth with 1,633 employees.
The largest local employer at 2,681 workers is clothing and home goods manufacturer Ralph Lauren Corporation, followed by Wake Forest Baptist Health at 2,566, High Point University at 1,657, and Bank of America at 1,650 employees.
Meanwhile, Thomas Built Buses published COVID-19 resources that provide customers with instructions on how to best cleaning the company’s school buses.
Related: COVID-19 Resources
