A number of manufacturing strains at Volkswagen and FAW’s plant in Chengdu are working with employees on 11-hour shifts, up from eight normally, to compensate for time misplaced on account of a closure in November, a spokesperson mentioned on Tuesday.

Manufacturing on the plant was stopped on Nov. 21 for 2 weeks due to an absence of elements as suppliers struggled with rising coronavirus instances following China’s loosening of its zero-COVID coverage.

The carmaker has introduced in additional employees on the plant from inside its wider workforce to lift the variety of hours labored as a way to make up for manufacturing shortfalls from that point and permit for extra breaks, a spokesperson mentioned.

The spokesperson denied an earlier report by Bloomberg that employees at Volkswagen’s plant in Foshan had been working 11-hour shifts as a result of different staff had been calling in sick with coronavirus.

The Foshan plant was working as regular, the spokesperson mentioned, including hygiene measures had been in place much like these applied on the top of the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, similar to mask-wearing and conserving distance between staff.

All different crops had been steady with no vital adjustments to their operation, the spokesperson mentioned.