Over the weekend, some Foxconn workers reportedly forced their way out of Covid controls at the factory. Municipal authorities subsequently announced plans to assist workers who wanted to leave the factory to return to their hometowns. Foxconn did not respond to a CNBC request for comment. "Obviously if they don't change this Covid zero policy we are going to see cases like this happening again and again," said Patrick Chen, head of research for CLSA in Taiwan. He said he expects little change in the policy unless vaccination rates increase. "I don't see much of an incremental cost associated with these closed-loop management or production, but there will certainly be some negative impact to the employee morale or the overall quality in the production yield," he said, noting Foxconn has announced monetary incentives to keep employees at the factory. Typically, Chen said workers at factories like Foxconn's receive a monthly salary of about $1,000.