KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A General Motors spokesperson confirmed Thursday that an employee at the GM Fairfax Assembly and Stamping Plant in Kansas City, Kansas, has tested positive for COVID-19.
“We are aware that one member of our team at Fairfax has recently tested positive for coronavirus after being exposed outside of work,” Trevor Thompkins, a communications coordinator for GM North America Manufacturing and Labor, told 41 Action News via email.
GM and other automakers shut down vehicle production in March as the COVID-19 pandemic strengthened its grip in the U.S.
The Fairfax Plant only resumed production June 1, but Thompkins doesn’t think the employee’s positive test will impact operations at the facility.
“We believe there is very little risk that anyone inside the plant has been exposed to the virus at work because everyone, including the individual, has been following our extensive, multi-layered health and safety procedures, which include wearing masks, hand washing and sanitizing, temperature screening and physical distancing,” Thompkins wrote.
When asked if GM would ask any additional employees to quarantine or if the company had a policy on testing employees, Thompkins replied, "Our safety protocols are designed to help keep the virus out of our plants and prevent its spread if someone does test positive."
No other details are available to protect the employee’s privacy, per Thompkins.
Several employees at the Fairfax Plant spent time at GM’s Kokomo, Indiana, production facility, which was converted to manufacture ventilators during the height of the pandemic.
The Fairfax Plant manufactures the Cadillac XT4 and Chevrolet Malibu.
41 Action News reached out to representatives of UAW Local 31, which represents union workers at the Fairfax Plant, but had not received a response Thursday night.
