Samsung Electronics has confirmed a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) case at its Gumi workplace. The company has decided to temporarily close the mobile phone production line where the employee was working for the weekend.
According to Samsung Electronics on March 1, a 53-year-old employee of the wireless business division was confirmed to be infected with the virus. A's wife, B, 56, was also confirmed. Both were identified as followers of the Shincheonji Church, according to Gumi City.
When his 29-year-old daughter, C who is the follower of the controversial church, was confirmed the day before, he was tested and reported the case to the company, it said. C is the 16th confirmed case in Gumi, and three members of her family are followers of Shincheonji and all infected.
Samsung Electronics said it will shut down its No. 2 workplace in Gumi by 7 p.m. on March 1 and close down the floor where Mr. A was working by the morning of March 3.
A woman in her 20s, an employee of Samsung Electronics' wireless business division in Gumi, was previously diagnosed as a confirmed person on Feb. 22. Another employee of Samsung Electronics' network division at Gumi was also confirmed six days later on Feb. 28.
An employee of a cafeteria partner at Giheung, Gyeonggi Province, where Samsung's semiconductor division is located, was also confirmed in the first round of inspections on Feb. 29.
The employee of the partner company was quarantined after being confirmed, and Samsung Electronics immediately shut down the cafeteria. The cafeteria will be closed by March 2 and will be operational again from March 3. The confirmed employee of a partner company is said to be a woman in her 40s who is in charge of sterilizing vegetables at a cafeteria in the business establishment.
"The semiconductor production line is currently operating normally," said an official of Samsung Electronics.
