South Korea's Samsung Electronics closes mobile device plant after coronavirus case confirmed

Samsung Electronics shut one of its mobile device factories in South Korea after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing a company official.

The factory in Gumi, close to Daegu where most of the South Korean virus cases have been confirmed, was temporarily closed last month after an earlier case was discovered.

The floor where the infected employee worked will reopen on Tuesday afternoon, Yonhap said.

Samsung did not have immediate comment.

Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Sunday the government was waging “all-out responses” to contain the novel coronavirus as the country reported 376 new cases, taking the total to 3,526.

South Korea has the largest national total in the world outside China, after it saw a rapid surge in the number of coronavirus cases in recent days.

Scores of events have been cancelled or postponed over the contagion, while the country’s central bank has warned of a minus growth in the first quarter for the world’s 12th-largest economy, noting the epidemic will hit both consumption and exports.

“The government is now waging all-out responses after raising the crisis alert to the highest level,” Moon said at an Independence Movement Day ceremony, scaled down due to the outbreak.

“We will be able to overcome the COVID-19 outbreak and revive our shrunken economy,” he added.