Airbus will pause all but what the Spanish government considers essential activities at its plants across Spain until at least April 9, the European airframer announced Monday. The move follows a March 29 government announcement of new measures to restrict all non-essential activities across the country in an effort to combat the Covid-19 virus. Spain over the weekend joined the U.S. and Italy among the countries whose Covid-19 case total exceeds that of China. It ranks second in the world behind Italy in the number of deaths reported due to the virus.

Continuing activities in Commercial Aircraft, Helicopters, and Defense and Space in areas for necessary support functions such as security, IT, and engineering will remain under the health and safety measures implemented by Airbus to protect its employees against the virus, said Airbus in a statement.

The closures come four days after Spain’s General Confederation of Labor (Confederación General del Trabajo, CGT) called for an indefinite strike at Airbus’s Spanish factories to start on March 30 in protest of the company’s decision to reopen the plants on March 23 following an earlier four-day closure.  

Calling the reason for the strike “more than justified,” the CGT blasted what it characterized as the company’s lax attitude toward protection measures for its staff during the health alert. The CGT further said the plant openings endangered the health of employees and their families.

The indefinite strike would have affected CGT-represented staff at Airbus’s Getafe, Illescas, Barajas, Tablada, and Albacete sites and cover all workers who wanted to support it, regardless of their union affiliation.