By ZEN SOO, Associated Press
HONG KONG (AP) — Employees who assemble Apple Inc.’s recent iPhone have walked out of their factory in northern China to avoid COVID-19 curbs after some coworkers were quarantined following a virus outbreak.
Videos circulating on Chinese social media platforms showed people said to be Foxconn staff climbing over fences and walking down a road laden with their belongings.
The scenes underscore growing public discontent with China’s “zero-COVID” strategy, where the federal government seeks to stamp out outbreaks by implementing strict testing, isolation and lockdown measures where infections are detected.
Outbreaks have led to entire cities going into lockdown. In the most recent wave of infections, Shanghai Disney Resort said Monday that it might close as of Monday for an indefinite period of time “to follow the requirement of pandemic prevention and control.”
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In a web-based notice, the park apologized for the inconvenience and said it would offer refunds or exchanges for those affected by its closure.
The Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou, Henan province, can accommodate as much as 350,000 staff and is one among the most important factories in China assembling products for Apple Inc., including its latest iPhone 14 devices.
Not all of the videos that showed staff purportedly leaving the ability could possibly be verified. It was unclear if the employees leaving the ability had escaped or in the event that they were allowed to go away.
Foxconn didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Volunteers from nearby villages put out food and drinks for the Foxconn staff. One such volunteer, who asked to be identified only by his surname Zhang out of privacy concerns, was put in control of distributing supplies that his village in Xingyang county had prepared. He said that the people shown in a video he uploaded to the short-video platform Douyin were Foxconn staff because they’d should take that road in the event that they were leaving the ability.
It was unclear what number of individuals are currently employed on the Zhengzhou factory, how lots of them have left and what number of were affected by factory’s COVID-19 curbs.
Earlier this week, media reports said the factory had implemented a “closed-loop” system largely restricting staff to movements between their residences and the plant.
Local media reports said that Foxconn staff complained of poor food quality and an absence of medical care for individuals who tested positive amid worries infections could possibly be spreading. The corporate denied rumors that 20,000 people within the plant had been infected with COVID-19.
Cities near Zhengzhou have urged Foxconn staff to report back to local authorities in the event that they plan to return to their hometowns to permit preparation of appropriate isolation measures.
Posts on the Zhengzhou government’s public WeChat account said Foxconn issued notices Sunday to staff on the factory, pledging to make sure the protection, legitimate rights and incomes of those that stayed.
A day after the videos circulated of staff leaving the factory on foot, Foxconn and several other local governments arranged transportation for workers selecting to return home. It wasn’t clear how much selection they got within the matter.
AP video producer Liu Zheng in Beijing contributed to this report.
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