Taiwan to quarantine workers to control COVID spike at tech firm (updated)

Greatek Electronics

06/06/2021 09:57

(Recasts, adds details)
    TAIPEI, June 6 (Reuters) - All foreign workers at a plant of
major Taiwanese chip packager King Yuan Electronics  2449.TW  in
Taiwan's northern city of Miaoli will be quarantined as health
workers try to stop an outbreak of COVID-19 there, the
government said on Sunday.
    While cases had been concentrated in Taipei and neighbouring
New Taipei, health authorities are now trying to stop an
outbreak at two chip packagers in Miaoli, King Yuan and Greatek
Electronics  2441.TW , as well as ethernet switch maker Accton
Technology Corp  2345.TW .
    The government said the quarantine would only apply to King
Yuan, where most of the Miaoli infections have happened. 
    King Yuan did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.    
    Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said 206 workers have so far
been confirmed as infected in the Miaoli cluster, mostly migrant
workers from abroad.
    Taiwan is a major producer of semiconductors for companies
like Apple Inc  APPL.O , though the sector has been largely
unaffected by the recent rise in COVID-19 numbers.
    Case numbers in Taiwan's main chip hub of Hsinchu have
remained low, though the government, working with the military,
has set up rapid testing sites there to ensure they can identify
any rapid increase.
    Hsinchu Mayor Lin Chih-chien said on Sunday companies must
ensure their workers are not transferred to work at other
factories or in other parts of the island.
    Hsinchu-based Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd
(TSMC)  2330.TW   TSM.N , the world's largest contract chip
maker, has not reported any impact from the rise in COVID-19
cases.
    Many of the workers at Taiwanese factories come from the
Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.
    Taiwan's infection numbers have not exploded, the government
has said, it is not considering raising the alert level to
mandate a full lockdown.
    Chen announced 343 new domestic cases on Sunday, down from
the 511 domestic infections reported on Saturday.
    Taiwan has reported 11,298 cases since the pandemic began,
including 260 deaths.

 (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by William Mallard and
Christian Schmollinger)
 ((ben.blanchard@thomsonreuters.com;))