Three of TSMC's employees have been confirmed infected with COVID-19, which, however, will not affect its operations, according to the Taiwan-based pure-play foundry.
TSMC said it has internally traced over 100 people who were in close contact with the three employees diagnosed with COVID-19, and requested them to quarantine at home and undergo PCR testing.
TSMC has also expanded its investigation to over 200 employees who had a lesser degree of contact with the confirmed coronavirus patients, and provided them with COVID-19 home test kits and arranged for further PCR tests. More than 200 workers have tested negative in initial tests.
TSMC plans to launch several rounds of rapid tests for employees in the coming week. The incident will have no impact on its operations, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).
TSMC added the company continues to operate in segregated teams and work from home and will make adjustments to its own rules on a rolling basis in response to government policies.
In addition, TSMC announced it has completed the purchase of five million doses of BioNTech (BNT) 162b2 vaccine, which will be donated to the Taiwan government. Financial terms were not disclosed. TSMC expects the vaccines to arrive in Taiwan in batches after the end of September at the earliest.
"Facing the global threats and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, TSMC has been devoting its knowledge and global logistics resources to work with the TSMC Charity Foundation, TSMC Education and Culture Foundation, and our overseas subsidiaries since 2020 to support the worldwide anti-pandemic effort, starting from our home base to provide needed assistance," said TSMC chairman Mark Liu. "As Taiwan is now facing severe impact from COVID-19, TSMC is continuing to take tangible action to fulfill its corporate social responsibility by donating vaccine. We believe that we shall all emerge stronger by overcoming the challenges of the pandemic."
Article translated by Jessie Shen
