Covid-19: 462 cases, 13 deaths linked to Johor semiconductor factory, says state exco

KUALA LUMPUR (July 29): A semiconductor manufacturing factory in Tangkak, Johor has been the cause of up to 462 Covid-19 infections and 13 fatalities, FMT reported today.

State health executive councillor Vidyananthan Ramanadhan told the newsportal that 207 cases involved the workers while another 255 cases comprise family members and acquaintances of the staff.

“Thirteen deaths have been reported, with nearly all of them suffering from a comorbidity, with an average of four days between the onset of their symptoms and when they first received treatment,” Vidyananthan said.

The exco also revealed that the index case was detected on July 2, who developed symptoms on June 24 and continued going to work until June 28.

“The main reason for the wide outbreak was workers’ non-compliance with SOPs at the workplace, and also within the community. This can be seen by the high percentage of cases involving the community,” he added.

Meanwhile vaccinations were provided, with 2,643 employees given their first dose and health officers vaccinating family members, he said.

Up to 2,501 tests were conducted as a result of the outbreak in the factory, recording a positive rate of 18.5% so far, while 1,495 workers were quarantined at home due to them being close contacts.

Vidyananthan said the quarantine period was pushed up to 21 days owing to the high number of deaths, “with suspicions that a variant of concern was involved in this cluster”.

“The factory’s operations are still being monitored daily by the district health office until today to ensure SOPs are complied with,” he added.

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