China Blocks Foxconn Plan to Resume Production on February 10

China has told Foxconn not to restart production on Monday, February 10th as initially planned due to the coronavirus outbreak, reports Nikkei.

Public health experts in Shenzhen informed Foxconn, which trades as Hon Hai Precision Industry, that its factories there face "high risks of coronavirus infection" after conducting on-site inspections and therefore are not suitable to restart work, four people familiar with the matter told Nikkei.


"The local governments do not want to risk the potential virus spreading in such a labor-intensive working environment. No one wants to bear the responsibility of restarting work at this critical moment," said a source.

Health officials are concerned about poor airflow in Foxconn's restaurants and employee dormitories. Production facilities pose even higher risk due to the density of workers and the use of central air which is necessary to prevent dust from disrupting production.

This shutdown could have a significant impact on the supply the iPhones and electronics for other companies including Amazon, Google, and Huawei.

The Chinese government is being very strict in its attempt to contain the outbreak. The country has even warned that those who violate epidemic control measures could face the death penalty.


"Violation of epidemic prevention and control could potentially face the death penalty," the internal meeting memo seen by the Nikkei Asian Review said.

Apple has told employees that it will not open retail stores on Monday but it will begin to reopen its corporate offices.

As of today there are 34,964 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 725 related deaths across 28 countries and territories.

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