Production at Toyota plants to resume gradually next month

London, Ont. — A memo being circulated to Toyota employees indicates the company will begin to slowly resume production in early May.

The letter is from Toyota North America and is directed to all North American manufacturing and support facilities, including the Woodstock and Cambridge assembly plants.

Citing transportation as an essential service, the memo states that starting May 4 they will resume production gradually.

The letter says production was suspended from March 23 to May 1 due to the increasing social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There will be new work entry protocols, along with staggered start and stop times to aid with temperature checks and social distancing guidelines.

The memo also says there will be new sanitizing protocols and new protective requirements including face coverings and face shields in some instances.