Contracting COVID-19 at work has been recognized as an industrial accident in one case involving an employee at the Guro call center in Seoul, marking the first such incident related to the outbreak. 

The Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service under the Labor Ministry said Friday that it held deliberations and approved the application filed by the individual as a case of work-related illness.

The agency said it considered the fact that the worker was repeatedly exposed to the risk of infection due to the nature of the call center's cramped work environment.

The decision will allow the employee to receive compensation worth 70 percent of the average wage that would have been earned during the treatment period for COVID-19.

Authorities were said to have verified a clear route of transmission regarding this particular case and swiftly reached a decision to acknowledge it as an industrial accident.