China’s Zhengzhou, a major iPhone manufacturing city, expands block order |

The government of the Chinese city of Zhengzhou has expanded its blockade, with the densely populated region of the central plains blocked since Monday (17) in an attempt to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, underscoring the continuing threat of supply chain disruptions to the world of business under Beijing’s insistence on a “compensation” policy.

Nearly 1 million residents in Zhongyuan District of Zhengzhou have been asked to stay home since Monday unless they went out to get tested for the virus, and the government has shut down non-essential businesses, according to a notice issued by the headquarters for the prevention and control of the coronary pneumonia epidemic in Zhongyuan District of Zhengzhou. The government will lift the blockade on Sunday at 6pm.

Headquarters said the top priority was to manage the community “gates” and each family’s “small gates” to minimize the flow of people; distribute living materials to community buildings.

The venue also said that under the “everyone should be checked, no one will be left behind” principle, the public will be tested for nucleic acid once a day from Monday to Wednesday.

After parts of Zhengzhou were blocked, the government has now expanded the blockade, surprising many people after officials said last week that a citywide blockade would not be imposed. Most of Zhengzhou’s two boroughs appeared to be on lockdown, according to posts from the social networking site and warnings from neighborhood committees, Bloomberg reported Thursday.

Zhengzhou city government blockade does not cover iPhone maker Hon Hai Group (2317-TW) factory. A company representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Zhengzhou city government reported six new local confirmed cases on Sunday, down from the recent peak of 40 on October 9. Domestic cases dropped to 697, the lowest in two weeks, as outbreaks in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang were brought under control.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China, hinted on Sunday that there would be no immediate changes in the “reset” policy, disappointing investors who hoped to see some signs of easing. In reading the political report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping said that strict epidemic prevention regulations have protected people’s lives. Economists estimate that the Chinese economy will grow only 3.3% this year, the second lowest growth rate in over 40 years.