iOS Safari VoiceOver fails to speak when calling JavaScript .focus() [on hold]

Has anyone else come across this weird inconsistency with VoiceOver on iOS?

Trying to prompt VoiceOver to read a specific text wont work if paragraphs or headings contains child tags such as <em> <strong> <small> etc.

Visit this pen on iOS with VoiceOver to reproduce this issue.

Focus management is a big requirement for making accessible web apps.

The only workarounds I can think of is never using child tags or creating "visually hidden" text for screen readers to .focus() on first.

I've submitted a bug report to Apple. Just curious if this is an issue for anyone else.