South Korea reports 571 new coronavirus cases, total surpasses 2,000

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on the afternoon of February 28 on its website that South Korea had 315 new confirmed coronavirus cases which would bring the daily number of new cases to 571. This single-day rise in the number of infected cases is greater than the increase reported by China.

Largest concentration of infected outside China

The total number of infected cases in South Korea stands at 2,022. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 90 per cent of the confirmed virus cases are in Daegu and in the neighbouring province of North Gyeongsang. The death toll remains at 13 with no new deaths reported.

Virus affecting business

Hyundai has decided to suspend the activities at one of its factories in South Korea’s southeastern city of Ulsan after a worker tested positive for the new coronavirus. According to reports, the carmaker announced the suspension of production on February 28. As a result of the closure, the shares of the carmaker have reportedly dropped more than 5 per cent.

As per reports, this latest closure of the factory in South Korea comes just as Hyundai was gradually resuming production at local plants in the wake of the virus outbreaks. The coronavirus outbreak has severely affected normal operation in companies like Hyundai and Samsung.

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The company's statement also claimed that the factory where the infected worker was working will undergo disinfection before being re-opened. The factory is located in Ulsan which is less than an hour from the epicentre of the outbreak in Korea, Daegu city. As per reports, Hyundai has five car factories in Ulsan, all five factories have an annual production capacity of 1.4 million vehicles or nearly 30% of Hyundai’s global production. It also employs 34,000 people in Ulsan. The factory that was shut down specialised in producing sport utility vehicles such as Palisade, Tucson, Santa Fe and Genesis GV80.

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