Malaysia Places 13,000 Top Glove Workers Under Virus Lockdown

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia will impose a lockdown on Top Glove Corp.’s worker dormitories at one of its plants in a move that will affect 13,190 workers, following a rise in coronavirus cases there.

The dormitories in Klang, Selangor state, will be placed under lockdown starting from Tuesday until Nov. 30, Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in a virtual briefing on Monday. As of Nov. 15, there were 215 cases recorded there, he said.

The move is an added blow to the world’s biggest rubber-glove maker whose shares have been under pressure by news of progress on a Covid-19 vaccine this month. The stock has tumbled 16% so far in November, paring its spectacular rally this year to 359%.

Top Glove “will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities, to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees towards flattening the curve and containing the situation,” it said in a statement to the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange Monday.

The company has more than 21,000 employees that churn out 90 billion gloves per year at 750 production lines, according to its presentation slides to analysts earlier this month.

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