Foxconn factories near Shanghai cease operations over COVID-19 cases

Foxconn, Taiwan's largest electronics manufacturer, has suspended operations at two factories just west of Shanghai in Kunshan City Country due to onsite COVID cases. The two factories, Dianfa and Fuhong, make up half of Foxconn's Kunshan manufacturing campuses and were shut on April 20, according to a report from South China …

[VoiceOfTruth]

An interesting dichotomy

In China they have strict lockdowns aiming to achieve zero cases (probably impossible, but that is the aim). In Brazil they have a zero effs given policy and any number of cases is OK. It's a strange world. Who is right?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: An interesting dichotomy

Since omicron is thought to be as contagious as measles, containment is not an option. Anyway, nearly every other country in the world is in the process of dropping restrictions so China will simply reimport cases over time.

They are following an unhinged strategy and the thought of expat work in China just got a whole lot less appealing after this sorry episode.

[DS999]

Re: An interesting dichotomy

Zero covid made sense for them when they formed the policy, since the original variant was not nearly so transmissible. Even with Alpha and Delta it worked for them. But Omicron, and its BA.2 variant are like you say so transmissible that it is no longer feasible.

The problem is party leaders are so worried about "loss of face" that they are doubling down on the policy instead of backtracking and simply saying that "because circumstances have changed, we no longer believe it is possible to attain zero covid" and basing how "locked down" a city is on how full its hospitals are.

I wonder how much covid is spreading inside those big apartment buildings they show on TV with the fences around them? Even if people stayed inside their individual apartments, they don't all have their own separate ventilation system, so I wouldn't be surprised if it spreads among people who haven't had any direct contact. Even if not, unless they board up everyone's apartment door so they can't visit neighbors it is still going to spread through any apartment building faster than they can test and quarantine its residents.

[Lon24]

Re: An interesting dichotomy

May depend on whether you are classed as 'vulnerable' or not. We may follow the Brazilian example but it doesn't come cheap either.

After our restrictions came off I got it despite being triple jabbed and hence being vulnerable I received a very expensive monoclonal antibody infusion in a London Teaching Hospital (inc private ambulance to/from) courtesy of the NHS and the taxpayer. Money and resources taken, presumably, from the non-covid waiting list. Protecting me might have made a life or death difference to someone else.

I don't know the real answer but I would trust a decision made on scientific and economic terms rather than just political.

[Brewster's Angle Grinder]

Re: An interesting dichotomy

The right answer has varied over the course of the pandemic. China was absolutely right early on. Now they are absolutely wrong.

[rcxb1]

Re: An interesting dichotomy

> In China they have strict lockdowns [...] In Brazil they have a zero effs given policy and any number of cases is OK.

Who says Brazil is OK?

According to the CDC, risk of contracting COVID in Brazil is HIGH:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-3/coronavirus-brazil

https://covid19.who.int/region/amro/country/br

While COVID risk in China is LOW:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-1/coronavirus-china

https://covid19.who.int/region/wpro/country/cn

I think China's efforts would be better used to ensure 99% vaccination rates, but there has been a stark difference between the death tolls in China versus Brazil.

[VoiceOfTruth]

Re: An interesting dichotomy

I didn't say it (covid) in Brazil was OK.

These are two different responses to covid. In one country they are going over the top to try to stop even one case (I'm not a doctor, but it would seem to be an unachievable absolute to obtain). In another country they don't seem to be bothered by how many die (I'm not a doctor and thousands of deaths would be unacceptable to me, if they could reasonably be avoided).

[Alex Brett]

One of the big problems China has is its vaccine take-up, particularly amongst the groups most likely to have a more severe reaction to COVID (the elderly, those with pre-existing conditions etc) is very low. A lot of its vaccines have also been of a type which doesn't protect as well against Omicron.

Many other countries now have vaccination rolled out sufficiently that the hospitalisations coming from Omicron are (mostly) manageable, so reducing/removing controls isn't overwhelming the health services - unless China can get its vaccination mix and take up improved, it will really struggle if it were to 'let it rip' as it were...