KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 14

A Nepali worker named Yam Narayan Chaudhary, working in Malaysian glove manufacturer company, Top Glove Corp, has died due to the COVID-19 infection.

Chaudhary had been working there for more than two years.

This is the first death in the company related to COVID-19. According to the Nepali embassy in Malaysia, Chaudhary passed away on Saturday.

“As there is a public holiday on Saturdays and Sundays, the company informed the embassy about Chaudhary’s death today only. The embassy is yet to collect further information about the deceased worker,” said Ambassador Udaya Raj Pandey.

He added that further details related to the deceased worker will be compiled by Tuesday.

Since Chaudhary’s death was due to the COVID-19 infection, his final rites will be performed in Malaysia itself.

Meanwhile, the embassy is holding discussions with the company about the arrangements being made for Chaudhary’s final rites, Pandey informed. He added that further action will be taken after all the necessary details have been collected.

Earlier on November 26, Ambassador Pandey had informed The Himalayan Times that no Nepali had been affected with the novel coronavirus till then and the situation was quite normal there.

Meanwhile, Reuters has reported 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 the company’s factories has now grown to become Malaysia’s largest cluster, with more than 5,000 employees testing positive.

Malaysian Security Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said in a statement that the lockdown could now be lifted as there were no more pending test results, while workers who had tested negative had already completed two rounds of quarantine, Reuters reported.

In the meantime, the company has also lifted the month-long lockdown despite the first death case. As reported by Reuters, last month the government put in place strict movement controls and ordered Top Glove to shut its factories in stages after more than 5,000 employees tested positive for COVID-19.