Proton Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19; Low Risk of Exposure to Customers

Proton just sent out a press release confirming that one of its employees tested positive for COVID-19. The employee belongs to the Research and Development Department of the national carmaker in Shah Alam, and the individual was confirmed to be positive on 14 October.

Given that the employee “was not in any way customer facing,” as Proton said in a statement, it is unlikely that customers were exposed to the virus. Proton added that it immediately took appropriate actions to ensure prevention of further spread, and that contract tracing is already underway.

“Respective departments have been asked to stay away from the office and self-quarantine, followed by deep cleansing and a disinfection of the premises and any suspected areas,” Proton added. The carmaker assures customers that it will continue to strictly follow all guidelines and procedures laid out by the authorities in this pandemic, as it has always done from the very beginning.

Beyond that, Proton did not elaborate further on how this would affect the launch timeline of its upcoming model, the Proton X50. The launch event for the highly anticipated B-segment SUV was widely believed to happen sometime this month, but given that Selangor, KL, and Putrajaya are under CMCO until 27 October (for now), it’s likely that the event is postponed.

Regardless, we will keep a close eye on any news related to the Proton X50. Until then, check out our coverage of the X50 so far.