Samsung shut down the factory in the southeastern city of Gumi after a worker tested positive for the new coronavirus. It said the plant will be closed through March 7, while the floor where the employee worked will be shuttered through March 8.

Samsung's premium smartphones, the Galaxy S20 series and the Galaxy Note 10, for the domestic market were being mostly produced in Gumi. Its plant in Vietnam will put out up to 200,000 smartphones a month and they will be shipped to South Korea beginning late this month, according to Samsung.

Samsung currently runs smartphone factories in Vietnam's Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen provinces. They account for half of the company's smartphone shipment worldwide.

The world's largest smartphone maker has so far reported six virus-infected workers at its production sites in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, only about 50 kilometers north of Daegu, the epicenter of South Korea's virus outbreak.

Currently the RoK counts 6,593 people infected with COVID-19./.VNA

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Despite the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Vietnam’s foreign trade in the first two months of the year picked up by 2.4% year-on-year to reach US$74 billion as Samsung boosted the exports of its new products.  

Will phone exports bounce back as Samsung’s production in China slows?

Samsung is believed to have great advantages over its rivals as its production base is in Vietnam, not in China, where the Covid-2019 has forced a series of factories to close down.