Worries over Thai manufacturing sector

File photo of workers at a garment factory in Bangkok, Thailand. - Reuters

BANGKOK: A series of coronavirus outbreaks in Thai factories is raising concerns that the export sector could be hit hard, threatening to further undermine an economy as it struggles to recover from the pandemic’s crippling blow to the crucial tourism industry.

The virus has swept through over 130 factories, including those supplying international brands, with more than 7, 100 cases across 11 provinces, making manufacturing one of the top sources of infections along with prisons and construction camps.