Apple's biggest iPhone manufacturer grapples with COVID flare-up in Chinese campus

Zhengzhou reported 23 new local infections for Tuesday. The capital of Henan province locked down one of its most populated districts, Zhongyuan, from October 16, and the city shut non-essential businesses and schools the next day.

Other districts also issued stay-at-home orders, with most of the city in effect locking down in the past week. But officials didn’t issue a formal announcement, spurring confusion among residents, according to social media posts.

Neighbourhoods that haven’t reported cases for the past seven days have been allowed to resume normal life, and Covid curbs will be adjusted on a district by district basis, the Zhengzhou government said in a statement Monday. But many parts of the city remain in lockdown. The Airport Economy Zone, where Foxconn’s plant is located, said areas with no Covid cases in the past week can resume normal life, but non-essential business and schools continue to be shut.

Virus restrictions seen in Zhengzhou and other parts of China show no sign of a shift from COVID Zero, something the public and investors had hoped for after the Communist Party congress, where President Xi Jinping secured a third term in power. Xi defended the policy in a speech kicking off the political gathering on October 16, saying it has saved lives, but he avoided acknowledging the social and economic costs.