Samsung factory quarantined after worker tests Covid-19 positive

Nguyen Huong Giang, Chairwoman of the northern province, said 106 people, all factory employees, had come into close contact with "Patient 262," a resident of Hanoi’s Ha Loi Village who was confirmed infected with the novel coronavirus on Monday morning.

Of the 106, 42 have been sent to a centralized quarantine facility while the rest are being monitored further.

"Patient 262," who works in the quality control department of the factory that produces TV screens, traveled by different company buses every day, so the number of contact people involved was large, Giang said.

The 26-year-old man didn't develop signs of Covid-19 infection at the factory but at home in Ha Loi Village in Hanoi’s Me Linh District. He was quarantined on April 6. 

He had come into close contact with his infected uncle, "Patient 254," a resident of Ha Loi, on March 27 and developed symptoms of cough and fever three days later. Ha Loi is now under lockdown with 10 residents confirmed infected with Covid-19

The Samsung's infected worker is being treated at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in Hanoi’s Dong Anh District.

On Monday, the entire factory where "Patient 262" works, including 20 other employees, were placed under medical quarantine. Other plants in the province are operating normally.

"On Sunday night, medical staff disinfected the entire workshop where the infected worker works as well as the buses to prevent the virus from spreading further," Giang said.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, Samsung Bac Ninh has designed bulkheads to prevent droplets between workers so the level of safety is higher, she added.

A representative of Samsung factory in Bac Ninh said the company has three independent factories that produce screens, batteries and mobile phones.

Samsung, the world’s biggest smartphone maker, is the largest FDI firm in Vietnam, employing around 160,000 people.

Samsung Electronics accounts for a quarter of Vietnam’s exports, and the Southeast Asian country is South Korea’s third-biggest export market, and the fifth-biggest source of South Korea’s imports.

Vietnam’s Covid-19 count stands at 262, with 144 discharged after recovery.

Globally, the Covid-19’s death toll has jumped to more than 114,000 as it attacked 210 countries and territories.