China locks down almost 1 million people near iPhone factory

The iPhone manufacturing hub of Zhengzhou locked down one of its most-populated districts to tame a COVID-19 flareup, with creeping restrictions throughout China underscoring the constant threat of disruption companies face while the country sticks to it COVID Zero policy.

Almost one million residents of Zhongyuan district were ordered to stay at home starting Monday, except for when they need to undergo COVID testing, and non-essential businesses have been shut, according to a government notice.

The wider restrictions follow the lockdown of some neighborhoods last week, catching many people by surprise after officials had said there wouldn’t be a citywide lockdown, Bloomberg reported.

IPhone maker Foxconn Technology Group’s plants aren’t located in the district that’s been locked down. Representatives for the company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg News.

The city reported 6 new local cases for Sunday, down from a recent peak of 40 on Oct 9. Nationwide, cases declined to 697, the lowest in two weeks, as outbreaks in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang came under control. Beijing posted 13 new cases, and Shanghai had 32.

While China’s most important cities have so far avoided large-scale lockdowns, officials have instead being quietly halting a growing list of activities, Bloomberg reported.

Several schools in Shanghai have suspended in-person classes as the fear of infection spread grows, according to parents and social media posts. The port city of Tianjin last week announced a lockdown of one district and the southern megacity of Guangzhou shut schools in one area.