Workers Flee Biggest iPhone Plant in China to Escape Covid Curbs

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Workers are departing Apple Inc.'s biggest iPhone plant in China, seeking to escape hastily enacted Covid measures that left many of the 200,000 staff grappling with inadequate living conditions.

Local authorities from several regions in the central Henan province said they will receive homebound workers from Foxconn Technology Group after strict Covid curbs were imposed at the world's largest iPhone plant in Zhengzhou to quell an outbreak, according to official posts online.

At least six counties and cities in Henan asked residents who just left Foxconn to contact local authorities before going home. Workers will be sent to several days of mandatory isolation, according to official posts on WeChat.

Cities such as Mengzhou and Luoyang have arranged buses to ferry workers to isolation sites, according to the posts. The government of Dagang county has dispatched buses and officials to help ferry employees to quarantine sites for a seven-day compulsory isolation before allowing them to go home, it said in a WeChat post.

Foxconn issued three notices to its workers at Zhengzhou plant, vowing to ensure safety, legitimate rights and income for those who are willing to stay, according to a WeChat statement posted by the Zhengzhou city government on Sunday. Meanwhile the company, together with local government, also arranged buses for employees choosing to return home.

Supply of daily necessities is ample and the Covid situation is gradually getting under control at Zhengzhou plant, Foxconn said in a statement to Bloomberg, adding that it will coordinate with other plants on capacity aid to reduce possible impact.

Videos and pictures of employees leaving the campus flooded social media over the weekend, depicting local