A security guard in protective suit keeps watch at an entrance gate to a neighborhood in Beijing, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. The ruling Communist Party promised earlier this month to reduce disruptions from its "zero- COVID" strategy by making controls more flexible. But the latest wave of outbreaks is challenging that, prompting major cities including Beijing to close off populous districts, shut stores and offices and ordered factories to isolate their workforces from outside contact. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) A woman wearing a face mask stands near a mural depicting a dragon in Beijing, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. The ruling Communist Party promised earlier this month to reduce disruptions from its "zero- COVID" strategy by making controls more flexible. But the latest wave of outbreaks is challenging that, prompting major cities including Beijing to close off populous districts, shut stores and offices and ordered factories to isolate their workforces from outside contact. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) A delivery man checks his phone after leaving his deliveries outside an old folks home decorated with the word "Fortune" t in Beijing, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. The ruling Communist Party promised this month to try to reduce disruptions by shortening quarantines and making other changes. But the party is sticking to a "zero-COVID" strategy that aims to isolate every case while other governments relax controls and try to live with the virus. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) A resident wearing a mask past a security guard outside a residential compound in Beijing, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. The ruling Communist Party promised this month to try to reduce disruptions by shortening quarantines and making other changes. But the party is sticking to a "zero-COVID" strategy that aims to isolate every case while other governments relax controls and try to live with the virus. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) In this photo provided Nov 23, 2022, security personnel in protective clothing were seen taking away a person during protest at the factory compound operated by Foxconn Technology Group who runs the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province. Employees at the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory were beaten and detained in protests over pay amid anti-virus controls, according to witnesses and videos on social media Wednesday, as tensions mount over Chinese efforts to combat a renewed rise in infections. (AP) In this photo provided Nov 23, 2022, security personnel in protective clothing attack a protester with clubs after he grabbed a metal pole that had been used to strike him during protest at the factory compound operated by Foxconn Technology Group who runs the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province. Employees at the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory were beaten and detained in protests over pay amid anti-virus controls, according to witnesses and videos on social media Wednesday, as tensions mount over Chinese efforts to combat a renewed rise in infections. (AP) In this photo provided Nov 23, 2022, security personnel in protective clothing attack a protester during protest at the factory compound operated by Foxconn Technology Group who runs the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province. Employees at the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory were beaten and detained in protests over pay amid anti-virus controls, according to witnesses and videos on social media Wednesday, as tensions mount over Chinese efforts to combat a renewed rise in infections. (AP) In this photo provided Nov 23, 2022, security personnel in protective clothing surround and kick a protester after he grabbed a metal pole that had been used to strike him during protest at the factory compound operated by Foxconn Technology Group who runs the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province. Employees at the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory were beaten and detained in protests over pay amid anti-virus controls, according to witnesses and videos on social media Wednesday, as tensions mount over Chinese efforts to combat a renewed rise in infections. (AP) In this photo provided Nov 23, 2022, protesters face off against security personnel in white protective clothing at the factory compound operated by Foxconn Technology Group who runs the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province. Employees at the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory were beaten and detained in protests over pay amid anti-virus controls, according to witnesses and videos on social media Wednesday, as tensions mount over Chinese efforts to combat a renewed rise in infections. (AP) In this photo provided Nov 23, 2022, security personnel in protective clothing attack a man during protest at the factory compound operated by Foxconn Technology Group who runs the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory in Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province. Employees at the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory were beaten and detained in protests over pay amid anti-virus controls, according to witnesses and videos on social media Wednesday, as tensions mount over Chinese efforts to combat a renewed rise in infections. (AP) Residents buy fresh vegetables from street vendors as restaurants are closed in some districts in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a central city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) A security guard peers into a store along a stretch of shuttered restaurants in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a central city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Residents line up for COVID tests in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a central city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) A resident rides a scooter along a quiet street in a district as restaurants are shut and residents encouraged to stay in their vicinity in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a central city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) A man leaves with his grocery shopping from a community under lockdown in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a cental city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Security guards control access into a community under lockdown in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a cental city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Residents wait for their deliveries behind shelves outside a community in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a central city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Residents buy fresh vegetables from street vendors as restaurants are closed in some districts and general movement discouraged in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a cental city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Residents buy fresh vegetables from street vendors as restaurants are closed in some districts and general movement discouraged in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a cental city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Security guards control access into a community under lockdown in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a cental city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Security guards control access out of a community under lockdown in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a cental city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Security guards control access into a community under lockdown in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a cental city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) A child wearing a mask passes by residents buying fresh vegetables from street vendors as restaurants are closed in some districts in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a central city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Residents buy fresh vegetables from street vendors as restaurants are closed in some districts in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a central city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Residents line up for COVID tests in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a central city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) A worker in protective gear holds a fan with the health check QR code as she talks on her phone at a coronavirus testing site displaying the words "Fight the Epidemic" in Beijing, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File) Residents wearing face masks chat with each other near the barriers set up in a locked down neighborhood as part of COVID-19 controls in Beijing, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File) A woman wearing a face mask walks past a national flag outside a closed noodles restaurant due to the COVID-19 controls in Beijing, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File) Residents wearing face stand in line for their routine COVID-19 tests near shuttered restaurants and shops as part of COVID-19 controls in Beijing, Nov. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File) Workers in protective gear browsing their phones keep watch outside a locked down neighborhood as part of COVID-19 controls in Beijing, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File) A worker in protective gear keeps watch as residents gather near metal barriers set up around shuttered shop houses that were locked down as part of COVID-19 controls in Beijing, Nov. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File) Residents buy fresh vegetables from street vendors as restaurants are closed in some districts in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a central city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) A residents passes by a shuttered restaurant in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a central city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) A child wearing a mask is pushed in his stroller in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a central city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Residents wait for their deliveries behind shelves outside a community in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a central city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) A man carrying a load rides past security guards controling access into a community under lockdown in Beijing, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022. China is expanding lockdowns, including in a cental city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as its number of COVID-19 cases hit a daily record. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
BEIJING (AP) — Pandemic lockdowns are expanding across China, including in a city where factory workers clashed this week with police, as the number of COVID-19 cases hits a daily record.
Residents of eight districts of Zhengzhou, home to 6.6 million people, were told to stay home for five days beginning Thursday except to buy food or get medical treatment. Daily mass testing was ordered in what the city government called a “war of annihilation” against the virus.
During clashes Tuesday and Wednesday, Zhengzhou police beat workers protesting over a pay dispute at the biggest factory for Apple’s iPhone, located in an industrial zone near the city. Foxconn, the Taiwan-based owner of the factory, apologized Thursday for what it called “an input error in the computer system” and said it would guarantee that the pay is the same as agreed to and in official recruitment posters.
In the previous 24 hours, the number of new COVID cases rose by 31,444, the National Health Commission said Thursday. That's the highest daily figure since the coronavirus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.
The daily caseload has been steadily increasing. This week, authorities reported China’s first COVID-19 deaths in six months, bringing the total to 5,232.
While the number of cases and deaths is relatively low compared to the U.S. and other countries, China's ruling Communist Party remains committed to a “zero-COVID” strategy that aims to isolate every case and eliminate the virus entirely. Most other governments have ended anti-virus controls and now rely on vaccinations and immunity from past infections to help prevent deaths and serious illness.
Businesses and residential communities from the manufacturing center of Guangzhou in the south to Beijing in the north are in various forms of lockdowns, measures that particularly affects blue-collar migrant workers. In many cases, residents say the restrictions go beyond what the national government allows.
Guangzhou suspended access Monday to its Baiyun district of 3.7 million residents, while residents of some areas of Shijiazhuang, a city of 11 million people southwest of Beijing, were told to stay home while mass testing is conducted.
Beijing opened a hospital in an exhibition center. It suspended access to the Beijing International Studies University after a virus case was found there. Some shopping malls, and office buildings were closed and access was blocked to some apartment compounds.
Suggesting some of those measures might be at least semi-permanent, workers were erecting a 2-meter (7-foot)-high fence around the aging, low-rise brick apartment buildings in Beijing's Hongmiao Beili community.
A half dozen people in hazmat suits manned the entrance to a lane running through the community, standing behind waist-high steel barriers usually used for crowd control.
Authorities had announced measures to try to reduce disruptions from pandemic controls by shortening quarantines and making other changes. Some Chinese have expressed frustration and confusion about the apparent policy flip-flops on social media.
While China's borders remain largely closed, the government has been “optimizing and facilitating the exit and entry process for executives and specialized personnel of multinational companies and foreign businesses and their family members in China," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily news conference Thursday.
Mao said China would continue to improve various COVID protocols “according to the science-based and targeted principles" to help facilitate travel and cooperation and exchanges with other countries.
A key issue is concern about how vulnerable people are to the virus. Few Chinese have caught COVID or even been exposed to the virus, so only a small percentage are thought to have built up effective levels of virus-fighting antibodies.
China has an overall coronavirus vaccination rate of more than 92%, with most people having received at least one dose. But far fewer older Chinese — particularly those over age 80 — have gotten the shots.
The government is trying to contain the latest wave of outbreaks without shutting down factories and the rest of its economy as it did in early 2020. One tactic is using “closed-loop management,” under which workers live in their factories with no outside contacts.
Foxconn, the world's biggest contract assembler of smartphones and other electronics, is struggling to fill orders for the iPhone 14 after thousands of employees walked away from the factory in Zhengzhou last month following complaints about unsafe working conditions.
The protests on Tuesday and Wednesday were driven by disagreements over payment of workers who were recruited to replace those who left. Workers scuffled with police and some were beaten. Some were arrested.
Foxconn denied what it said were comments online that employees with the virus lived in dormitories at the Zhengzhou factory. It said facilities were disinfected and passed government checks before employees moved in.
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