The number of COVID-19 infections in Malaysia is surging, threatening to aggravate shortages of semiconductors and other components that have hammered automakers for months.
The Southeast Asian country hasn¡¯t historically had the kind of importance to technology supply chains that Taiwan, South Korea or Japan do. But in recent years, Malaysia has emerged as a major center for chip testing and packaging, with Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors NV and STMicroelectronics NV among the key suppliers operating plants there.
Now numbers of COVID-19 infections are soaring in the country, jeopardizing plans to lift lockdowns and restore full production capacity. The seven-day average for reported daily infections has pushed past 20,000, up from just over 5,000 in late June.
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