PHETCHABURI: New coronavirus infections reported at an electonics factory in Khao Yoi district more than doubled on Friday as health authorities stepped up testing of neighbouring communities in a bid to contain the spread.
The Covid-19 operation centre set up in the district on Friday reported 819 new cases from mass testing at the Cal-Comp Electronics factory, taking the tally of confirmed cases to 1,690. Friday’s figure — 60 Thai and 759 foreign workers — exceeded the 682 accumulated cases that had been reported up to Thursday.
The factory has become a hot spot of the virus outbreak in the province, which had detected only 922 cases since the start of the third wave to Thursday.
Mass testing inside the Khao Yoi compound has been almost completed. Most of the foreigners working there are Myanmar nationals.
The plant has been sealed off for 14 days from Thursday and workers living at dormitories are banned from going outside during that period. A field hospital has been built inside the factory. Workers who live outside the complex have also been ordered to self-quarantine.
Attention has now turned to communities around the factory as the virus could spread from workers in contact with family members and other residents before infections are detected.
Rapeephan Phothong, director of the disease control office in Ratchaburi, which also has responsibility for Phetchaburi, said authorities were conducting tests on at-risk people outside the factory by focusing on tambon Sra Phang and Bang Khem where most of the workers lived.
Phetchaburi governor Pakkapong Tawipat said on Thursday that some workers also commuted to the factory from Ratchaburi, Samut Songkhram and Samut Sakhon. Health authorities in the three provinces have been alerted to check their conditions, he added.
SET-listed Cal-Comp has been in business locally since 1989 and employs about 5,000 labourers. It makes a wide range of products for major brands worldwide, from printers to disk drives, telecom products and smart appliances.
The company has three factories in Samut Sakhon, two in Phetchaburi and one Ayutthaya with headquarters in Bangkok. The affected factory in Khao Yoi is a Cal-Comp Electronics facility. Another plant of affiliate Cal-Comp Precision has not been affected.
Shares of Cal-Comp (CCET) closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 2.76 baht, down 6.7%, in trade worth 109.6 million baht.
