KUALA LUMPUR: Unisem (M) Bhd has commenced a seven-day shutdown of its plants in Ipoh, Perak, from Sept 8 to 15, 2021, in accordance with a directive from the Health Ministry.

       It said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia that the loss in production due to the closure is estimated to be about 2% of group's total annual production.

       "We anticipate that the sales and production at our Ipoh plants will continue to be adversely impacted in the coming months due to headcount limitation until such time the pandemic subsides significantly," it added.

       Unisem said it had been trying to procure vaccination for its employees at the plant since June but to no avail.

       Through a private initiative, a mass vaccination programme was conducted on site on Sept 1 to 3 when most of its employees, customers’ resident engineers and contractors that provide transport, security and cleaning services at the plant received the first dose of vaccination.

       "The safety and well-being of our employees and local community are always our utmost priority. We will continue to maintain and adhere to the highest and most stringent COVID-19 preventive SOPs to minimise the spread of COVID-19," said Unisem.

       At 12.30pm, shares in Unisem were last traded three sen or 0.35% lower at RM8.60 on the back of 285,800 units exchanging hands.