MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. The Kaluga-based Volvo truck plant will suspend operations from April 13 to 30 on the back of the adverse epidemiological situation related to the coronavirus spread, Volvo Trucks says in a statement on Wednesday.
"Taking into consideration the adverse epidemiological situation with the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) spread, the need to keep employees healthy and observe restrictive measures recommended by the Russian government, the management of Volvo Group made a decision to temporarily suspend operation of the Volvo truck plant in Kaluga from April 13 to 30, 2020," the company says.
In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in more than 150 countries, including Russia.
On March 11, the WHO declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. As of now, over 410,000 people have been infected around the world and more than 18,000 have died. Russia has identified 658 cases, 29 patients have recovered. The Russian government has launched an Internet hotline to keep the country’s people informed about the coronavirus situation.