Macon YKK employee dies from coronavirus complications
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect updated information from YKK that the employee likely did not contract COVID-19 in the Macon facility.
An employee at the YKK’s Macon facility died from COVID-19 complications on April 19, according to a release from the company.
The employee was last on site on March 30 when they asked for a leave of absence to stay home during the outbreak. The individual did not cite the illness as the reason for the request and had not exhibited any of the symptoms when they requested the leave of absence, YKK officials said.
“It does not appear that the employee contracted COVID-19 while at our facility,” YKK President Jim Reed said. “YKK continues to take proactive measures to minimize risk of COVID-19 infection.”
The company will not disclose the employee’s identity.
“We are doing everything in our power to support the family as they go through this difficult time,” Reed said in the release. “We ask the community to keep this employee’s family in your thoughts.”
Below is a list of proactive measures that YKK has been taking to try and stop the spread of COVID-19, according to the company:
- Taking the temperatures of all employees and authorized visitors before entering the workspace and sending home those who have a fever
- Clorox fogging all common areas twice per day
- Limiting access to buildings
- Distributing hand sanitizer
- Asking employees or employees with family members who suffer any COVID-19 type symptoms to stay home.
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported more than 200 cases of COVID-19 and an additional local death in its noon update. It’s unclear if the employee was a Bibb County resident.
Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday he was going to allow certain businesses to reopen on Friday and Monday, as long as they followed restrictions from his office.
YKK Corporation of America is headquartered in Marietta.
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 6:23 PM.