Chip testing and packaging service provider King Yuan Electronics Co (京元電子) yesterday said that it is arranging COVID-19 rapid screening tests for all of its employees in the next few days after two migrant workers tested positive and 240 more were subsequently quarantined.
The company said that it has requested all migrant workers to move to other dormitories, away from where the infected workers stayed, after it was informed of the two cases on Sunday.
All foreign workers have been placed in isolation, while all Taiwanese employees were asked to work from home on Monday, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Miaoli County Environmental Protection Bureau
The company did not disclose how many employees would be required to have the rapid screening test.
The Central News Agency reported that about 7,300 employees would be screened, as 26 people who had been in contact with the two original cases tested positive yesterday.
To reduce infection risk, King Yuan said that it has imposed stricter movement restrictions, and temporarily shut down cafeterias and convenience stores within its plants.
Employees have also been asked to record their health checks on a daily basis, it said.
King Yuan, headquartered in Hsinchu City, counts MediaTek Inc (聯發科), Novatek Microelectronics Corp (聯詠) and some international corporations among its customers.
The company said that it has twice disinfected all of its dormitories, and its plants in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and Jhunan Township (竹南), as well as adjacent public areas.
King Yuan said that it did not expect any disruptions to production as it is allocating more workers to fill the void and maintain normal factory operations.
The company said that it hopes the measures would reduce the impact of the outbreak, and its revenue and net profit would not be affected.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2