Beijing [China], October 31 (ANI): In China, large numbers of migrant staff have fled home from the country’s largest iPhone factory in Covid-hit Zhengzhou amid a lockdown triggered by the Covid outbreak.
“Workers escaped from #Apple’s largest gathering site, escaping the Zero #Covid lockdown at Foxconn in #Zhengzhou. After sneaking in, they march to their villages more than a hundred kilometers away to overcome the measures of the Covid application designed for other people and avoid this. #Chine,” tweeted Stephen McDonell, the BBC’s China correspondent.
Videos shared on Chinese social media showed other people jumping a fence outside the factory, owned by manufacturer Foxconn, in the central city of Zhengzhou.
In the past, several staff members were reported to have been quarantined due to an outbreak of the disease.
According to McDonell, Zhengzhou Foxconn employs about 300,000 people and is part of the world’s iPhones. Amid the chaos of the covid lockdown and food shortages, videos from Douyin, a Chinese video hosting service, show many migrant workers from Henan province walking home. as no public submissions will be made due to confinement.
Since Saturday, photographs and videos circulating on Chinese social media give the impression of showing Foxconn staff returning home, crossing fields during the day and roads at night.
Footage also shows local citizens near the road installing loose gas stations for Foxconn workers. Without the government or Foxconn, they can only rely on the kindness of strangers.
Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, reported 167 covid cases transmitted in the seven days to Oct. 29, up from 97 infections in the past seven days.
As a result, the city of around 10 million people has been partially lockdown, as China continues to use strict lockdown measures to deal with Covid – the zero-Covid policy.
Foxconn, which acts as a supplier to U. S. company Apple, has thousands of employees at its Zhengzhou complex and has not provided an official count of the number of other people infected.
Under China’s strict zero-covid policy, cities are empowered to act temporarily to quell any virus outbreaks. This includes everything from large-scale lockdowns to normal testing and restrictions.
Many expected President Xi to scrap the law before the end of the year, however, at the recent 20th Communist Party Congress, he made it clear that this would not happen any time soon. (ANI)
Support our journalism
India wants fair, scripted and surprising journalism, full of reports on the ground. ThePrint, with leading journalists, columnists and editors, does just that.
To sustain this, you need glorious readers like you.
Whether you are in India or abroad, you can purchase a paid subscription by clicking here.
Support our journalism