Hanoi (VNA) – Samsung Electronics Co. on March 6said it will temporarily move some of its smartphone production to Vietnam,after shutting down a local factory following a positive coronavirus testthere, according to the Yonhap news agency of the Republic of Korea (RoK).

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

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

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

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

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