China imposes Covid lockdown on area around iPhone factory

BEIJING

Chinese authorities yesterday locked down the area surrounding the world’s largest iPhone factory after workers fled the facility to avoid a virus outbreak and the resulting restrictions.    

All people except Covid-prevention volunteers and essential workers “must not leave their residences except to receive COVID tests and emergency medical treatment”, officials from central China’s Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone said Wednesday.     

The move comes after images emerged last week on Chinese social media showing people breaking out of the facility, which is run by Taiwanese tech giant Foxconn and employs hundreds of thousands of workers.    

Employees were complaining online of poor conditions and having to flee the factory on foot to avoid COVID transport curbs.  

China is the last major economy committed to a zero-COVID strategy, persisting with snap lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines in a bid to stamp out emerging outbreaks.    

But new variants have tested local officials’ ability to snuff out flare-ups faster than they can spread, causing much of the country to live under an ever-changing mosaic of COVID curbs.    

The district in Zhengzhou city said that all businesses would be required to work from home, with only “key enterprises” in the district allowed to continue operating, without specifying which businesses fell under this category.    

Only medical vehicles and those delivering essentials are allowed on the streets.    

The district’s more than 600,000 residents will have to take nucleic acid tests every day, the local government said, warning that it would “resolutely crack down on all kinds of violations.”            

Foxconn said over the weekend that it was testing employees daily and keeping them in a “closed loop” as well as offering transport to those who wanted to leave, after the videos on social media showed employees walking down motorways with their suitcases.    

Local governments in the area surrounding Zhengzhou city have asked Foxconn workers to register with authorities if they return home and to complete several days of quarantine upon arrival.    

The company added on Nov. 1 that it would quadruple bonuses for employees willing to remain at the factory during the outbreak. Henan province, where Zhengzhou is located, officially reported 359 infections yesterday, a jump from Nov. 1’s 104.

The southern Chinese manufacturing hub of Guangzhou also announced partial lockdowns in several districts this week in response to rising case numbers.