Korean big companies are cutting back offline and overseas activities amid resurgence in infected coronavirus cases over the past few days.

According to industry sources on Sunday, Samsung Electronics is advising employees to refrain from face-to-face meetings, training and events, while asking for a minimized number of participants in unavoidable business trips. As a result, the number of Samsung representatives is expected to be significantly lower than originally planned for its upcoming Galaxy Unpacked 2022 event scheduled to be held in New York on Aug. 8.

LG Group recently required up to 30 percent of team members in each organization to work from home. The measure will remain effective until the end of August. All employees should present a negative Covid test before returning to the office.

Hyundai Motor also recently strengthened its quarantine guidelines, recommending that employee gatherings or meetings be conducted online. Domestic travel is also restricted. Other companies are closely monitoring the recent pandemic developments, while following the government`s quarantine measures.

South Korea has seen a spike in daily coronavirus cases amid a rapid spread of the omicron subvariant BA.5. Even on Sunday, when fewer tests are carried out over the weekend, the new coronavirus cases reached the 60,000 range, the largest for Sunday tallies in 14 weeks. The country reported 65,433 new daily infections over the past day by Sunday morning, bringing the total caseload to 19,211,613, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The latest figure fell by 3,118 from the previous day but surged by 60 percent in one week. The number of critically ill patients was up by six to 146.

Starting from Sunday, face-to-face visits are banned at local nursing hospitals and mental care facilities. In addition, inbound travelers must undergo PCR testing within one day of entry instead of three days, quarantine authorities announced on Sunday.

By Oh Chan-jong, Yang Yeon-ho, Kim Gyu-sik and Minu Kim

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