Foxconn reportedly downplayed severity of recent COVID outbreak

Posted:
in General Discussion edited November 2022
A new report alleges that Foxconn downplayed the severity of its recent COVID-19 outbreak and that its actions led to a stricter lockdown.

Foxconn worker
Foxconn worker


Foxconn's factory in Zhengzhou was hit by a COVID outbreak in late October. At the time, a spokesperson for the Apple supplier said the impact was controllable, and conditions at the factory were stable.

On Monday, November 7, The Wall Street Journal published a report based on interviews from over two dozen Foxconn workers and their relatives, and the company's announcements on its WeChat account.

One employee said the quarantine started on October 7, as she and her coworkers were told they couldn't leave their production unit. They stayed there for 27 hours and were moved to another block of dorms, and Foxconn started its close-loop management system soon after.

The iPhone manufacturer didn't reveal the number of COVID cases it found. Instead, on its WeChat account, it shared stories from recovered patients. The company reportedly likened it to a cold, sharing statements from medical experts who downplayed the dangers of catching the virus.

"I don't know how many positive cases were detected each day, but I saw people around me slowly disappearing," said a quality-control worker.

By late October, some workers suspected that Foxconn was more focused on keeping production running than on enforcing strict pandemic protocols, according to a production-line manager.

As employees returned to work after a quarantine, some people didn't believe they had all tested negative. Instead, an unsubstantiated rumor claimed it was part of a plan to mix COVID patients with healthy people to promote herd immunity.

On October 28, workers started abandoning the factory using buses from the government to take them home. Foxconn offered to raise bonuses fivefold for people who changed their minds and returned to work.

"Calm down and return to work. It's better than going home to a quarantine," a loudspeaker reportedly announced.

A lockdown at Foxconn started on Wednesday, November 2, and is currently scheduled to last until November 9.

Read on AppleInsider
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    Is this the reason why AAPL recovered from a loss early? LOL
  • Reply 2 of 27
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    And yet according to worldometer, China with 1.5 billion people has one third the cases and one third the deaths with Covid of little old Australia with 25 million, where 95% of the population is vaccinated.

    You can’t believe any story out of China. Always ask what the real story might be.
    edited November 2022 williamlondonkestralelijahgsdw2001jas99
  • Reply 3 of 27
    entropys said:
    And yet according to worldometer, China with 1.5 billion people has one third the cases and one third the deaths with Covid of little old Australia with 25 million, where 95% of the population is vaccinated.

    You can’t believe any story out of China. Always ask what the real story might be.
    Australia used to have very little cases and deaths. Then the prime minister gave up control. The cases and deaths skyrocket. And the prime minister lost in election. LOL
    Alex_Vjas99
  • Reply 4 of 27
    entropys said:
    And yet according to worldometer, China with 1.5 billion people has one third the cases and one third the deaths with Covid of little old Australia with 25 million, where 95% of the population is vaccinated.

    You can’t believe any story out of China. Always ask what the real story might be.
    If you don’t mind people starve to death at home or kids being take away from parents or patient die at home because they ran out of medicine, then unlimited lockdowns is a good choice. 
    williamlondonkestralmuthuk_vanalingamelijahgjas99
  • Reply 5 of 27
    viclauyyc said:
    entropys said:
    And yet according to worldometer, China with 1.5 billion people has one third the cases and one third the deaths with Covid of little old Australia with 25 million, where 95% of the population is vaccinated.

    You can’t believe any story out of China. Always ask what the real story might be.
    If you don’t mind people starve to death at home or kids being take away from parents or patient die at home because they ran out of medicine, then unlimited lockdowns is a good choice. 
    These cases are very rare. They are mostly execution by incapable local officials. 
    Alex_V
  • Reply 6 of 27
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    I was commenting on the unbelievable statistics,  not seeking a defence of various pandemic strategies. Stop being so automatically defensive.
    elijahg
  • Reply 7 of 27
    Maybe you don't understand what happened. I am only giving you a reason why the statistics is so weird. 
    Alex_V
  • Reply 8 of 27
    What are the odds this thread doesn't get deleted?
    grandact73
  • Reply 9 of 27
    Yes, be wary of anything coming out of China when it comes to "news". Remember the clips early on in cv hysteria showing Chinese person keeling over from a standing position but somehow having the awareness to break the fall with his arms? 

    And who can forget that SARS CoV2 came from a wet market, when we now know it came from a Wuhan lab?

    At the rate China's going, they'll be doing lockdowns five years from now.

    Smell the idiocy.


    elijahg
  • Reply 10 of 27
    Yes, be wary of anything coming out of China when it comes to "news". Remember the clips early on in cv hysteria showing Chinese person keeling over from a standing position but somehow having the awareness to break the fall with his arms? 

    And who can forget that SARS CoV2 came from a wet market, when we now know it came from a Wuhan lab?

    At the rate China's going, they'll be doing lockdowns five years from now.

    Smell the idiocy.


    If it is from Wuhan lab, the technology is from US and funded by US government. LOL
  • Reply 11 of 27
    JP234 said:
    entropys said:
    And yet according to worldometer, China with 1.5 billion people has one third the cases and one third the deaths with Covid of little old Australia with 25 million, where 95% of the population is vaccinated.

    You can’t believe any story out of China. Always ask what the real story might be.
    Have you considered the reason China has fewer deaths from COVID than Australia is because they're a totalitarian society who can and does control the movements of its citizens? It was the lockdowns that prevented more deaths, despite a lower vaccination rate than Australia, which as a free democracy cannot control its citizens movements to that same level, resulting in more infections and deaths as foolish citizens defy their medical communities' advice. Witness the same problem with another country, which has the highest number of COVID deaths in the world, for the same reason: The United States of America. COVID has wiped out one out of every 330 citizens in this country, and counting, at the rate of 250/day.
    I already stated in post 3. Australia had tried locked before. So your assumption that free democracy will not do lockdown is false. 
  • Reply 12 of 27
    More fear porn. I can't believe people are still buying this BS.
    danoxMadbummuthuk_vanalingamITGUYINSD
  • Reply 13 of 27
    danoxdanox Posts: 2,804member
    Apple is Doomed again…..
  • Reply 14 of 27
    MadbumMadbum Posts: 536member
    People don’t be fooled by the Chinese communist.

    this is a hit job on Foxconn owned by Democratic Taiwan . Foxconn pays twice the wages of Chinese owned factories 

    this is retaliation by Chinese communists government using their platform weibo to have plausible deniability . In other words, make it look like it’s normal citizens protesting .

    don’t be fooled, the only evil here is the Chinese communists 
    elijahg
  • Reply 15 of 27
    MadbumMadbum Posts: 536member
    It’s also not wrong to call Covid a cold.

    I have had covid 2 times  and I had colds much worse

    chinese communist government needs to calm the f down with this Covid cold before losing all the foreign companies and destroy its entire economy 
    edited November 2022 muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 16 of 27
    MadbumMadbum Posts: 536member
    danox said:
    Apple is Doomed again…..
    Why because some workers got a cold but it’s being treated like some plague?
  • Reply 17 of 27
    Madbum said:
    It’s also not wrong to call Covid a cold.

    I have had covid 2 times  and I had colds much worse

    chinese communist government needs to calm the f down with this Covid cold before losing all the foreign companies and destroy its entire economy 
    It is deadly if you transmit the virus to seniors and people with underlying conditions. Many people are careless and selfish. Calling Chinese government communist is making a health issue political. 
    danox
  • Reply 18 of 27
    JP234 said:
    JP234 said:
    entropys said:
    And yet according to worldometer, China with 1.5 billion people has one third the cases and one third the deaths with Covid of little old Australia with 25 million, where 95% of the population is vaccinated.

    You can’t believe any story out of China. Always ask what the real story might be.
    Have you considered the reason China has fewer deaths from COVID than Australia is because they're a totalitarian society who can and does control the movements of its citizens? It was the lockdowns that prevented more deaths, despite a lower vaccination rate than Australia, which as a free democracy cannot control its citizens movements to that same level, resulting in more infections and deaths as foolish citizens defy their medical communities' advice. Witness the same problem with another country, which has the highest number of COVID deaths in the world, for the same reason: The United States of America. COVID has wiped out one out of every 330 citizens in this country, and counting, at the rate of 250/day.
    I already stated in post 3. Australia had tried locked before. So your assumption that free democracy will not do lockdown is false. 
    Well, you're not responding to what I wrote, which was that totalitarian China can and does enact and enforce lockdowns.
    As for Australia and the USA, sure, they TRIED lockdowns, but both were unable to enforce them. It's fun to see what happened in the south after the 2020 Mardi Gras. Even more so, look at the COVID heat maps after the 2020 and 2021 Sturgis rallies, where the entire north midwest was engulfed in COVID deaths over the next two months. And every media outlet was showing crowds of bikers stuffing bars, ignoring masks and distancing RECOMMENDAITONS, not orders as in China. Several were heard saying things like "F@#$ COVID" or "F@#$ the mask." Many are dead now.

    So, it's China's ability to ENFORCE their restrictions that led to fewer deaths there. And more here. 1 of every 300 of us.
    You failed to get the facts right. You cannot equate US with Australia. US was never able to enact lockdowns. Australia was able to enforce lockdowns city by city. Then out of economic reason and to cooperate with US five eyes coalition, Australia gave up lockdown policy. Take a look of its daily cases history.


    danoxFileMakerFeller
  • Reply 19 of 27
  • Reply 20 of 27
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,312member
    JP234 said:
    entropys said:
    And yet according to worldometer, China with 1.5 billion people has one third the cases and one third the deaths with Covid of little old Australia with 25 million, where 95% of the population is vaccinated.

    You can’t believe any story out of China. Always ask what the real story might be.
    Have you considered the reason China has fewer deaths from COVID than Australia is because they're a totalitarian society who can and does control the movements of its citizens? It was the lockdowns that prevented more deaths, despite a lower vaccination rate than Australia, which as a free democracy cannot control its citizens movements to that same level, resulting in more infections and deaths as foolish citizens defy their medical communities' advice. Witness the same problem with another country, which has the highest number of COVID deaths in the world, for the same reason: The United States of America. COVID has wiped out one out of every 330 citizens in this country, and counting, at the rate of 250/day.
    It is certainly true that the West did in fact have significant deaths from COVID, but there also were significant numbers of people that received effective mRNA vaccines that reduced the risk of death by a factor of 100. While the epidemic is not "over" by any stretch, it has become manageable. Most of the lockdown strategy in the West was targeted at reducing hospitalization.

    Meanwhile, China is not willing, or able to, exit the COVID lockdown strategy, because they know that once that happens, there is no way that they will be able to control the epidemic that will occur. These lockdowns won't end until Xi can come up with a workable alternative.

    Good luck with that, but in the meantime, China is clearly telling the world to look elsewhere for its supply chain.
    edited November 2022 elijahg
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