Samsung Factory Shuts Down Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

Samsung has recently suspended operations in one of its factories in South Korea. The company pointed to the COVID-19 outbreak in the country as the reason for the postponement of its operations in a few days. As of now, South Korea is the second most affected country by the novel coronavirus.

Samsung announced that it’ll be temporarily shutting down its factory complex in Gumi, South Korea as a COVID-19 case has been confirmed in the area, Reuters reported. The company is now taking steps to prevent the spread of the virus, including quarantine and tests to check if its employees have contracted COVID-19. The Gumi factory in South Korea makes up a small part of the company’s production chain and is mostly used for delivering Samsung products domestically. Most of Samsung’s factories for international production are stationed in India and Vietnam.

The factory will remain closed until Feb. 25.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s rival, Apple, has also been affected by the outbreak in China. Apple’s Chinese stores and offices have been limited to little to no operations due to threat of the outbreak. Nevertheless, Samsung has confirmed that the company’s other operations in South Korea will go on as normal.

The Gumi factory is also close to Daegu where a church has been the epicenter of the outbreak of COVID-19 in South Korea. As of now, the infected count has doubled up to 433 people, making South Korea the second country to be heavily affected by the outbreak. Other than countries, many businesses internationally are having their operations delayed due to the precautions needed against the outbreak.