Workers from iPhone-maker Foxconn escaping their factory, Bappi Lahiri's "Jimmy Jimmy" going viral, and iPhone production possibly dipping 30%... are these the fallout of China's new lockdown?
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00:00Media reports said that this Pappi Lahiri classic became an anthem in China as the country
00:11imposed fresh covid lockdowns.
00:13Jimmy translates to give me rice in Mandarin and people were miming to this song while
00:19holding empty rice bowls.
00:26China has a zero covid policy to stop outbreaks despite the citizens expressing anger and
00:31fatigue over the restrictions.
00:33Dozens of cities went into lockdowns in October as China reported multiple consecutive days
00:38with more than a thousand new covid cases.
00:41Reuters reported that iPhone maker Foxconn's Central China facility was also under such
00:47a lockdown.
00:48The roughly 200,000 workers who both lived and worked in the factory had allegedly been
00:55locked in to stop the spread of covid.
00:57They had complained of conditions deteriorating.
01:00The workers said that they were low on food and medical supplies, CNBC reported, and alleged
01:06that around 20,000 of them had been put in on-site quarantine.
01:11It wasn't known how many of them were infected.
01:14Desperate, they fled, reported Reuters.
01:17Videos surfaced on social media of what appeared to be Foxconn workers scaling walls to escape
01:23the factory.
01:24They were seen walking back home to different cities late at night, and passers-by even
01:29left food and drinks for them on the sidewalks.
01:45Foxconn denied that 20,000 of its workers had been infected with covid and said that
01:50production was not affected.
01:52Massive manufacturing companies like Foxconn keep workers on-site to keep their production
01:57lines running.
01:58CNBC reported that Foxconn spoke to local Chinese media on 31st October and said that
02:04it would improve the lives of the workers there.
02:07They said they'd resume their canteen services, workers would be given better medical care
02:12if infected, and also paid a bonus of about $14 a day, around Rs. 1,100, if the workers
02:18stayed.
02:19But some workers at the factory told Reuters they were planning to quit.
02:23Some who escaped said they were never going back.
02:26Images surfaced online of what appeared to be Foxconn employees waiting to board shuttle
02:30buses allegedly organised by the local authorities to take them home.
02:35Foxconn produces 70% of Apple's iPhone shipments.
02:39Some sources told Reuters that iPhone production could dip by as much as 30% at the factory
02:44next month because of the covid curves in China.
02:47With the holiday season approaching, it was reported that Foxconn was beefing up production
02:51at a different facility to make up for the shortfall.