A pair of iPhone factory workers in China walked 25 miles to escape severe COVID restrictions at Foxconn's giant compound

• Two workers at the world's largest iPhone factory walked 25 miles to get home after breaking lockdown.
• Bloomberg reported the story of Dong Wanwan and her brother, who left the factory amid strict COVID controls.

A worker at the world's largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, China walked for almost nine hours to get home after leaving the compound to escape its harsh COVID restrictions, Bloomberg reported.

Foxconn's 200,000-employee complex has enacted a dramatic "closed loop" system to enforce China's zero-COVID policy after a recent outbreak of the disease. Bloomberg reported that workers were initially not allowed to leave the facility, and scuffles have broken out after some workers were given a basic food supply of bread and instant noodles.

20-year-old Dong Wanwan said she and her 19-year-old brother trekked 25-miles home after the lockdown made their life miserable. She had been working at the compound for three months helping to put together iPhones.

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On Monday, Foxconn raised wages to $5.20 an hour – a 36% increase – to try and stop more workers leaving the factory which produces around half the world's iPhones.

Thousands of workers are believed to have left, with other cities in China drawing up plans to isolate the departed workers amid fears they will spread COVID, per Reuters. Foxconn has not disclosed the number of people who have left, or the number of infections at the site.

"Foxconn really messed up," Dong told Bloomberg. "I don't think a lot of people would want to go back. I know I wouldn't."

The company said on Sunday that it wouldn't stop workers — who share dorms with up to 11 people — from leaving the facility.

Neither Apple nor Foxconn immediately responded to requests for comment from Insider.

Over the weekend, videos and photos spread across Chinese social media showing workers hitching rides or walking along highways with luggage.

Dong's turmoil began when she reported a cold in late October. After developing a 103 degrees fever and being stuck in bed, she tried calling the employee assistance hotline and local hospitals, but none of her calls got through.

And on WeChat, China's primary messaging app, a group chat with colleagues went silent after Dong asked for help. She says she should would have run out of food and medicine if her line supervisor hadn't made colleagues send over supplies.

Dong and her brother's 25-mile journey began at 8am a few days later. Despite the region being in lockdown, sympathetic residents left snacks and water by the highway after witnessing the turmoil on social media.

They hitched a ride on the back of a truck for part of the way, before finally reaching an assembly area set up by officials to transport Foxconn workers. Dong estimated that there were around 500 workers at this point, per Bloomberg.

From there, the pair were sent to another quarantine facility in an elementary school, Dong said, before the siblings finally reached their hometown.