BEIJING: Chinese authorities on Wednesday locked down the area around the world’s largest iPhone factory after workers fled the facility to escape Covid restrictions.
The Zhengzhou Airport economy zone in central China, where Taiwanese tech company Foxconn operates a major plant, entered seven days of “stable management” on Wednesday, local officials said in a statement, cheering the lockdown.
Photos appeared on Chinese social media last week showing people walking out of the Foxconn facility, which employs hundreds of thousands of workers.
Employees were complaining online about the poor conditions and were forced to flee the factory on foot to avoid curbs on covid transport.
Officials said Wednesday that all people, except for COVID-prevention volunteers and essential workers, “should not leave their residences except for a Covid test and emergency medical treatment.”
They added that only medical vehicles and those delivering essential goods will be allowed on the streets.
China is the last major economy to commit to a zero-COVID strategy, committed to curbing emerging outbreaks with snap lockdowns, mass testing and prolonged quarantines.
But new forms have tested local officials’ ability to contain outbreaks faster than outbreaks, leaving much of the country living under an ever-changing mosaic of COVID containment.
