An outbreak of coronavirus infection COVID-19 has occurred among the builders of Intel’s new European factory. According to the Irish Ministry of Health, 70 workers out of XNUMX have become infected, but the company does not plan to stop construction due to the risk of aggravating the semiconductor crisis. This was reported by the RTE edition.

Intel has been operating in Ireland since 1989. The new factory will be located near the city of Lakeslip and is designed to produce 7-nanometer microprocessors. The project is extremely important for both Intel and local authorities. The company is rumored to have invested about $ 4 billion in it. Upon completion of construction, 1600 new jobs will be created in the region for highly qualified employees.

Construction is being hampered not only by COVID-19 problems, but also by tight work schedules. The thing is that the installation of specialized equipment (for example, ultraviolet scanners) is clearly defined in terms of time and is impossible without the participation of third-party specialists who have an extremely tight schedule. In addition, failure to complete the project on time threatens to exacerbate the semiconductor crisis.

Activists from the People Before Profit Employment organization criticized the decision to continue construction, calling the incident a massive outbreak. According to them, more than 150 infections have been registered at the construction site. They demanded that the construction be stopped immediately.