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March 14 (UPI) -- China's "Silicon Valley" manufacturing hub of Shenzhen was idled Monday after authorities ordered most production be suspended and employees work from home amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. The Shenzhen Municipal Epidemic Prevention and Control Headquarters ordered the city's more than 17 million residents into a week-long lockdown on Sunday when 75 locally transmitted cases were confirmed.
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Buses and subway systems were also suspended in the city, which is home to major technology companies such as Apple supplier Foxconn, phone maker Huawei, electric carmaker BYD and Internet services provider Tencent.
Foxconn told CNBC its factories in Shenzhen would remain closed until notified by the government.
Other parts of the country were also put into strict lockdown mode as the latest surge of Omicron variant cases threatened to upend Beijing's economic recovery from the pandemic.
The National Health Commission reported 1,337 new locally transmitted cases nationwide were detected on Sunday, prompting officials to place Northeast China's Jilin Province into lockdown management under Beijing's strict "zero-Covid" policy.
Millions of residents in Jilin's capital city Changchun and second-largest urban center of Jilin City were ordered not to leave the province under the protocol. Toyota halted operations at its plant in Changchun on Monday, the Washington Post reported.
Five makeshift hospitals were set up in Jilin City, offering more than 9,000 beds, with a sixth facility of 2,000 beds also under construction, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
