Covid Outbreak in China Forced Workers at a Major iPhone Manufacturing Plant into Quarantine Right before an Expected Holiday Buying Surge

Foxconn said Tuesday that its factory in Zhengzhou, China — the world’s largest assembly plant for Apple’s iPhones — was hit with a small Covid outbreak.

A spokesperson for the Taiwanese firm, officially known as Hon Hai Technology Group, told CNBC that operation and production at its Zhengzhou facility are “relatively stable with health and safety measures for employees being maintained.”

“For the small number of employees affected by the pandemic, Foxconn, in compliance with local epidemic prevention policies, is providing the necessary guarantees for livelihoods, including material supplies, psychological comfort and responsive feedback,” the spokesperson added.

Foxconn said that the impact on the group is “controllable” and the operating outlook for this quarter remains unchanged.

Zhengzhou, in central China’s Henan province, has been battling a new wave of Covid this month. The city has locked down some districts as China pushes ahead with its zero-Covid policy, using testing and lockdowns to try and tackle the virus