Malaysia's Top Glove reports worker death due to COVID

By Liz Lee

2 Min Read

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's Top Glove Corp reported on Monday that one of its workers died after contracting COVID-19, the first death since an outbreak at its dormitories and factories.

The world's largest glove maker told Reuters in an email that the 29-year-old worker from Nepal passed away on Saturday due to COVID-19 pneumonia with lung fibrosis.

Top Glove shares fell as much as 9.4%, alongside other glove stocks, amid reports on increasing availability of COVID-19 vaccines and after coverage from Reuters and other media of conditions for migrant workers at Top Glove, analysts said.

Reuters reported on Sunday that Top Glove had fired a Nepali employee in September after he and other workers tried to raise concerns over cramped dormitories and a lack of social distancing at the firm's facilities.

An outbreak at its factories has now grown to become Malaysia's largest cluster, with more than 5,000 employees testing positive.

The government put in place strict movement controls and ordered the manufacturer to shut its affected factories in stages last month, to assist in screening and quarantine.

Last week, the manufacturer said during a financial results call that 94% of workers tested were now fit to return to work.

Smaller rival Hartalega Holdings said on Monday it had found 35 cases among more than 8,700 employees tested. It said in a statement that it had temporarily shut some production lines, but estimated losses at less than 0.5% of annual output.

The Top Glove worker who died had worked at its manufacturing facility in Klang, 40 km (25 miles) west of the capital Kuala Lumpur, for more than two years.

Reporting by Liz Lee,; Editing by Richard Pullin and Ed Osmond

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