The coronavirus continues to spread, as the deadly virus has made its way to a Samsung Electronics phone factory in South Korea.
Coronavirus spreads to Samsung Factory in South Korea
According to Reuters, a Samsung employee at the phone factory in Gumi (southeastern South Korea) has coronavirus. As a result, all those having come into contact with the individual are undergoing quarantine until testing. As for the floor where the employee works, Samsung originally said it would be shut down until February 25th. An updated report now says that Samsung has reopened its Gumi complex. “As of 1pm KT [Korea Time], the Gumi Complex has started normal operations and we expect no impact on production,” Samsung said in a ZDNet statement.
Samsung is applying disinfectant and going through proper protocol to ensure the Gumi Complex is a safe place to work. South Korea has confirmed 833 cases of coronavirus outbreak, with 7 people dead. Since the beginning of the month, Samsung has been telling employees to “wear masks and avoid large gatherings.”
Samsung’s Gumi Complex is a domestic phone factory for the South Korean market. It makes premium smartphones and is only for a small portion of the market. Most of Samsung’s Galaxy flagships are produced in India and Vietnam. This new coronavirus outbreak will have little to no impact on Samsung’s smartphone output. The Korean Android giant says as much, but based on its production factories in different places, it’s easy to see the truth behind the statement.
Gumi Complex Coronavirus spread explains MWC 2020 cancellation
The Gumi Complex outbreak in the latest coronavirus news confirms why the GSMA shut down MWC 2020, the first global tech conference of 2020 that was to commence this week. The number one reason to shut down the conference pertains to human contact and germs. With reporters and customers coming into contact with all kinds of people, the potential to spread coronavirus only grows. The GSMA waited, however. Before it canceled MWC entirely, a number of companies shut down press conferences at the event. LG, ZTE, Huawei, NVIDIA, Intel, Sony, and others said it wouldn’t make appearances at MWC 2020.
Coronavirus outbreak history
Coronavirus started in the province of Wuhan, China. A doctor reporting a coronavirus outbreak warned the Chinese Government to do something about it. Beijing later forced the doctor to recant his statement regarding a virus outbreak. Just weeks later, he was one of the first to die from coronavirus. Since then, the virus has affected nearly 80,000 people worldwide with 2,628 deaths from coronavirus reported. Italy is seeing a rise in its infection toll and has the largest caseload of coronavirus outside of the Asian continent.
The majority of new cases in China are coming from the Hubei province. Elsewhere, countries are increasing screenings of coronavirus. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that coronavirus has “pandemic potential” but says it hasn’t yet reached the level of a true pandemic. Currently, the US is at low risk for coronavirus, but there are currently 34 Americans with the deadly virus.
Rumor has it that coronavirus likely started in a live animal market in Wuhan, though no one knows for sure.