Vietnamese authorities order quarantine at Samsung display plant

AppleInsider

Samsung's Bac Ninh plant has been ordered into quarantine after a worker was tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

Samsung's Bac Ninh plant (Source: VIR.com)

Staff at Samsung's Bac Ninh factory in Vietnam have been ordered by local authorities to undergo quarantine. It follows a confirmed case of the COVID-19 virus in one employee, a 25-year-old worker on Samsung Display's quality-control unit, called EQC-SI.

Vietnam has currently very few cases of COVID-19 and this worker is being referred to by authorities as Patient 262. The worker has been self-isolating since April 7, and so was away from the factory. Accounts vary, but between 44 and 100 people he or she was in contact with at the factory have now been quarantined.

According to Reuters, the worker was tested positive on Sunday.

While only a small number of workers have been affected, overall Bac Ninh is a crucial facility for Samsung. It was the first plant the company opened in Vietnam in 2008, and between it and two further factories that followed, it is responsible for around a quarter of the country's approximately $60 billion annual exports.

It's not clear whether the Bac Ninh display plant specifically makes any screens for Apple. However, separately, Samsung has been working to increase all of its display production in the country. Reportedly, these expansion plans are being affected by the country's coronavirus policy which currently means Samsung cannot bring in engineers from other parts of the company.

tht

Vietnam started quarantine policies in late January! They were not complacent whatsoever and is basically a model on how to handle pandemics. Lots of experience in this area. Their quarantine policies are a whole lot more stringent and basically requires people 1 step removed from exposure to be quarantined too. Ie, if you met someone who had contact with a person who has the virus, you have to self isolate, possibly quarantine in a facility for a couple of weeks. Contact tracing is thorough and testing is plentiful. Also, they culturally wear face masks all the time due to pollution, so, no impediments whatsoever on wearing face masks and gloves in public or private.

jbdragon

So I guess making video displays is a Essential Job?

NinjaMan

jbdragon said:

So I guess making video displays is a Essential Job?

"...it is responsible for around a quarter of the country's approximately $60 billion annual exports" - 25% of the county's export probably makes it essential to their economy.

larryjw

jbdragon said:

So I guess making video displays is a Essential Job?

The "Essential" designation is the hammer the US is using to prevent spread. It's less necessary if there is sufficient testing and contact tracing.

gatorguy

larryjw said:

jbdragon said:

So I guess making video displays is a Essential Job?

The "Essential" designation is the hammer the US is using to prevent spread. It's less necessary if there is sufficient testing and contact tracing.

The US is not the only country restricting business to "essential services". Geesh, I suppose there's "hammers" in dozens of countries around the globe. Vietnam is one of those countries and they've used it to control Covid-19 infections thru distancing and isolation rather than testing.
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=d00dd3a0-4c0a-4d4a-8f7e-351264b3bae2
https://theaseanpost.com/article/vietnams-exemplary-response-covid-19