LG Electronics shuts Indonesia factory after virus outbreak

JAKARTA (AFP) -- South Korea's LG Electronics has temporarily shut a factory near Indonesia's capital after some 200 employees contracted coronavirus, the company and a local official said Tuesday.

The Cibitung plant, which makes televisions and digital sign parts, will shut for nine days after about a third of its 600 employees tested positive.

LG would "come up with disinfection measures for the entire property for the safety and health of its employees", it said in a statement.

"The corporation has tested all of its employees working at the factory, and only those who tested negative are to return to work next week," the firm said.

"The corporation plans to strengthen social distancing and safety measures," it added.

A spokesman for the region's coronavirus taskforce said the plant on the outskirts of Jakarta could be shut for as long as 14 days if it is deemed unsafe for employees to return to work.

Indonesia had reported over 150,000 coronavirus cases and 6,858 deaths, but with some of the world's lowest testing rates the true scale is widely believed to be much greater. (AFP)