Hyundai Motors has closed their production plant after an employee tested positive for COVID-19, according to the company.

"HMMA is suspending production in all areas, for all shifts, beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. HMMA has already deployed additional sanitation measures across the entire facility and will now follow ADPH and the CDC to determine if additional measures should be taken," according to a release.

The employee who tested positive is not on site at HMMA, the company said, and other workers were informed of the situation.

Over 3,000 people work at the plant, assembling Sonata, Elantra and Santa Fe vehicles using parts that are delivered to the line by a network of parts makers across the area. Thousands more work to build those parts across the plant's supplier network. Any lasting shutdown would have ripple effects throughout that workforce.

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Last week, spokesman Robert Burns, said the company was closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation.

"The health and well-being of our Team Members is a top priority for our company," he wrote. "We have been closely monitoring COVID-19 developments in the U.S. and have taken proactive measures to such a hand sanitizers throughout our facility to reduce or prevent any types of infections."

Burns also said the company was following CDC guidelines regarding travel, but that those restrictions had no impacted their ability to produce vehicles.

The plant rolled out 30,500 vehicles in February at an average of about 1,500 per weekday. Hyundai Motor America last month reported its best-ever February sales, and HMMA makes most of the vehicles sold here.

HMMA is currently in the midst of a $410 million expansion that is creating 200 new jobs at the plant itself and hundreds more at suppliers across the region.

More:As $410M expansion starts, Hyundai plant keeps moving

Honda, which has a plant in Lincoln, announced Wednesday that is would be suspending operations beginning Monday in all of the North American plants for six days.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased Wednesday morning to 46, with the first case in Calhoun County, four more in Lee County and two more in Jefferson County bringing its total to 23.

Experts agree increased isolation and shuttering of everyday public life, if implemented early enough, can help "flatten the curve," or spread the number of new cases out over a longer period of time.

If cases spike too quickly in a short period, American hospitals may become overwhelmed.

Social isolation, where possible, can help slow the rate of transmission and protect individuals at risk of developing serious illness if infected with COVID-19

A data analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found Alabama ranks among the top six most at-risk states for its adult population. The analysis examined state-level health data to determine the percentage of "high-risk" adults, which include all adults over the age of 60, as well as young adults with heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or diabetes.

The data show 46 percent of Alabama adults fall under those categories and are at higher risk of developing serious illness if infected with coronavirus.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Kirsten Fiscus at 334-318-1798 or KFiscus@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KDFiscus