A BALANCING ACT

Spring 2022 can be described as one of “ups and downs” for the people of Shenzhen, a global tech metropolis in the southern province of Guangdong. While helping neighboring Hong Kong Special Administrative Region battle its fifth pandemic wave, Shenzhen itself has come face to face with an abrupt surge in COVID-19 infections, reporting 370 confirmed locally transmitted cases from March 6 to 16. All bus and subway systems were suspended, and businesses, except those providing essential services, were closed from March 14 to 20.

Companies have been feeling the strain. Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Technology Group, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and a major assembler of Apple Inc., said in a statement that the date of its Shenzhen factory resumption is to be advised by the local government. “Due to our diversified production sites in China, we have adjusted the production line to minimize the potential impact,” the company said.

At present,. Shenzhen is not the only one facing this new ordeal. From March 1 to 14, 28 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland reported more than 15,000 local infections, according to the National Health Commission (NHC).