Beijing
Major Apple supplier Foxconn has suspended its operations in China’s tech hub of Shenzhen, the company said Monday, after Beijing authorities imposed lockdown in the city.
This decision has been made to comply with the local government’s new COVID-19 policy, state media tabloid Global Times reported.
“Meanwhile, we have required all the employees to have COVID PCR test on top of existing prevention measures to ensure the health and safety of our employees,” the company said.
Foxconn has more than 40 plants in China’s mainland, According to media reports, Foxconn has two major plants in Longhua Science Park and Guanlan Science Park in Shenzhen.
Amid a rapid resurgence of COVID-19 cases, two of the country’s biggest cities, Shenzhen and Shanghai, have imposed strict virus measures.
The recent spike in coronavirus cases has led to allowing rapid antigen tests for public use and resulted in the dismissal of senior officials for their slack response to the ongoing health crisis. The latest spike, described as the severest COVID-19 outbreaks in two years, has forced several major cities to go into lockdowns.
Shenzhen officials imposed a lockdown for one week. Nonessential workers are ordered to stay home and adults have been asked to undergo three P.C.R. tests. On Sunday, China’s National Health Commission reported 3,122 new virus cases, a rise from previous totals from 1,524 on Saturday.
The average number of new virus cases in the country has reached 1,370 per day over the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Chinese state media reported that Chinese observers warned local governments to avoid taking extreme measures such as city lockdowns, as they would harm the local economy.
China isolates all virus cases, including those in the community, as part of its COVID Zero policy. State media tabloid Global Times reported that China must strive to achieve a new breakthrough in its COVID policy.
