Karnataka: 55 workers test Covid-19 positive at MTR factory

An outbreak of Covid-19 at food product company MTR's production facility in Bommasandra has snared 55 workers as of Wednesday and has resulted in the factory’s temporary closure.

Shivashankar G R, general secretary of the Trade Union Coordination Centre (TUCC) which represents employees at the factory, clarified that the problem began on July 6 when a single employee travelled to his village in Nagamangala taluk in Mandya.

“Upon his return, he was Covid-positive, but did not develop symptoms (a fever) until about five days later. He had himself tested and as soon as it was clear that he had the disease, the company moved quickly to contain the outbreak, but the disease spread rapidly,” Shivashankar said.

MTR said it closed down the factory on July 7 after patient zero was discovered a day before. “The moment the first positive case was reported, MTR Foods contacted the relevant authorities and quarantined all primary contacts and isolated the secondary contacts through contact tracing,” the company said. It added that its factory will remain closed until July 20 in order “to mitigate any risk.”

According to sources, the factory employs about 550 people, out of which 130 have been tested. “The 55 positive cases were discovered during this testing. Six have been hospitalized, but the rest are at the Covid Care Centre (CCC) at Sri Ravi Shankar Ayurvedic Hospital,” the sources added.

The company said it is currently following the guidelines and protocols recommended by local authorities. It added that the factory operations will resume at reduced capacity on July 21, and eventually scale up.

A company spokesperson clarified that the company’s products are manufactured on automated lines without the involvement of human touch.