Samsung temporarily closes Manaus factory because of COVID-19

A Samsung announced this Tuesday (24) that it is temporarily closing one of its factories in Brazil, in order to prevent the spread of the virus. COVID-19 coronavirus among its employees.

According to the statement, the company's factory in Manaus, responsible for manufacturing home appliances and smartphones of the brand, will be closed between this Tuesday (24) until next Sunday (29) as a way of fighting COVID-19, which according to the Health Surveillance Foundation already has 32 confirmed cases of people with the disease in the city of Manaus.

In addition to the closing of the Manaus plant, the company also stated that, since last Monday (23), all employees at the São Paulo office and at the company's Research & Development center in Campinas are already working on a home office, as a way to reduce the chances of contagion of these employees. Below is Samsung's full statement:

“For Samsung, the health and safety of our employees is our highest priority and, as a precautionary measure, we are closing the Manaus plant from March 24-29.

In addition, employees at our São Paulo office and our Campinas R&D Center have been working from home since March 23, a decision made to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The company is continuously monitoring the COVID-19 situation and remains committed to everyone's well-being.

Samsung reinforces that it follows all prevention guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the country's Ministry of Health and other local authorities. It also emphasizes that it is committed to ensuring the well-being of its employees.”

Samsung closing factories around the world

The decision to close the Manaus plant comes just a day after the company announced the closure of its factory in India, also because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As here in Brazil, the closing of the Samsung factory in India is also only temporary, and the building will be closed between the 23rd (Monday) and 25th (Wednesday) of March.

In addition, the company was also ordered earlier this month to suspend all smartphone production at the Gumi factory in South Korea after one of its employees was diagnosed with COVID-19. Since then, all production on this line has been temporarily transferred to the company's factory in Vietnam. 

According to the latest report from the World Health Organization, dated March 23, there are currently 332930 global cases of infected with COVID-19, and 904 of these confirmed cases are here in Brazil. 

Source: Current Amazon, ZDNet, SamMobile, World Health Organization