"Up until now, the company can neither confirm nor rule out if the cause of his death is related to COVID-19 because we have not been informed," the German automaker said on Saturday.

After being notified on March 26 that the worker had been hospitalized, the company sent some workers home that day, according to its statement.

The worker, identified as Angel Ignacio M., died Friday. Some of his "loved ones" have also been hospitalized with respiratory complications, the company added.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito; writing by Julia Love; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)