Apple: Chinese workers flee Covid lockdown at iPhone factory

Image source, Getty Images

The Covid outbreak forced Apple's largest assembly factory in China to be locked down and workers to break out.

The video shows a group of people jumping a fence outside the plant.

Chinese people and businesses are still trying to figure out how to deal with the zero- Covid policy.

Some cases of Covid have been identified at the factory.

In the last week, Zhengzhou reported 167 locally transmitted infections, up from 97 the week before.

The city of 10 million people was partially locked down as China continued to use strict measures to deal with Covid.

An official count of how many of the hundreds of thousands of workers at the Zhengzhou complex are affected by the disease has not been provided.

According to the company, it would not stop workers from leaving.

Workers were filmed escaping from the grounds to return to their hometowns in a bid to avoid being caught on public transport.

One 22-year-old worker told the Financial Times that it was "total chaos in the dormitories" he and his colleagues were being kept in. He said they got out of the campus by jumping a plastic fence and a metal fence.

The area around the plant had been locked down for days, with Covid-positive workers being subjected to daily testing to try to contain the outbreak.

It was announced last week that workers at the Zhengzhou plant would have to eat in their rooms.

The company told reporters that it was maintaining normal production as it ramps up production of the new models.

According to a statement on Sunday, the government agreed to resume dine-in meals for employees.

The plant is working with the government to provide an orderly return service for employees from today.

The corporation has reached out to the company.

China's zero- Covid policy gives cities the power to act quickly if there is an outbreak of the disease. This also includes travel restrictions and testing.

At the recent 20th Communist Party congress, President Xi made it clear that the legislation wouldn't be dropped before the end of the year, which was a disappointment to many.