the largest iPhone factory in the world confined to avoid the flight of employees

COVID-19 – Confined to an industrial area. The chinese authorities decreed this Wednesday, November 2 containment of the area around the largest iPhone factory in the world, after the discovery of a hotbed of Covid-19 on the industrial site. The inhabitants “should not leave their homes” unless there is a compelling reason, local authorities said.

The economic zone around Zhengzhou airport (center), where the factory managed by the Taiwanese group Foxconn is located, will have to observe a seven-day confinement, according to an official press release.

Intransigence on containment breaches

The factory, which employs more than 200,000 people, has been affected since mid-October by positive cases of Covid-19. The entire industrial complex brings together three factories employing 350,000 people who assemble around 80% of the iPhone 14, the latest model from the American giant Apple.

Foxconn admitted to facing a “long battle” against Covid. But the firm did not specify the number of employees who tested positive or were confined to its Zhengzhou site. A factory official told the weekly China Newsweek that no serious cases had been recorded and that the situation was for the moment “controllable”.

Only the “essential businesses” will be able to continue to operate, the others having to establish teleworking. Authorities have warned that they will be “intransigent towards any type of violation” of containment.

Bonuses for employees

Images on social media showed some workers fleeing the factory over the weekend over a fence, some carrying suitcases, and then walking home. Videos of employees complaining about their working conditions and a lack of protection against the virus have also been shared.

The NGO China Labor Watch, citing employee testimonies, deplored that sick employees had to continue to work with others, and that a large number of positive cases and contact cases had been isolated according to it in a neighboring building under construction.

In compensation, the company announced on its official account of the Chinese social network WeChat an exceptional compensation of employees. She will pay a daily bonus of 400 yuan (about 55 euros) per day at work. That’s four times the usual amount.

Staff will receive an additional bonus if they are present at the factory for at least 15 days in November. This bonus can reach 15,000 yuan (2075 euros) in the event of presence for the entire month, said the Taiwanese company.

Cases on the rise

The move comes as China is the latest major economy to implement a zero Covid policy. This results in repeated confinements, almost compulsory PCR tests several times a week and the placement in quarantine of people from risk areas.

Although not high, the number of Covid cases in China has been on the rise in recent days. On Wednesday, more than 2,000 new positive cases were announced in the territory for the third day in a row.

To the south, the semi-autonomous territory of Macao announced on Tuesday a general screening of its 680,000 inhabitants after the discovery of a handful of cases. One of the city’s casinos has also been confined. At the other end of the country, outbreaks have been detected in towns in the northeast, near the border with Russia and North Korea.

The number of people locked in their homes across the country is now the highest since Shanghai’s lockdown in the spring, notes independent economic research firm Capital Economics, with outbreaks detected in more than 50 cities.

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