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 New reported cases of the virus cases are declining outside of Hubei
province, the epicenter of the outbreak, and much of China is
shifting its focus to getting back to business. Some 21 of the 31
mainland regions have lowered emergency response levels.
Yang Lu, who works in sales for a security company in the southern
city of Shenzhen, said her office of around 300 people is back to
work, but she tries to stay away from people.
"I come to the office earlier than others and leave late," she said.
Around 80% of restaurants and shopping centers have reopened in
major cities such as Beijing and Guangzhou, search engine Baidu said
on Thursday, although traffic is light in restaurants and malls.
Over 90% of businesses in the large southern province of Guangdong
had resumed work as of Tuesday, state media said.
Yet the picture is mixed, depending on location and industry.
While 60% of logistics companies across China have returned to work,
the government said on Friday, analysis from brokerage Nomura
suggests that just 44% of businesses in sectors directly affected by
the outbreak were up and running as of March 1, up from 37.7% a week
earlier.
"Reopening a factory is easy. All you need to do is get a guard and
hire a few cleaning ladies and you're all set," said a government
official in the city of Wenzhou, who declined to be identified given
the sensitivity of the matter.
"But resuming production is a whole different matter," he said,
noting that market demand, availability of workers, and finding
adequate supply of safety equipment like masks are all challenges.
Employers also fear workplace infection.
"If someone tests positive for the virus, all of the employees have
to be quarantined and you have to pay them at the same time. It is
not a fair trade," the official said.
DON'T MEET ME AT THE WATER COOLER
As white collar workers return to offices, many are reluctant to
socialize.
Workplaces are limiting lunchtime interactions while office
buildings restrict the number of people allowed in elevators. In
much of Beijing, offices are permitted to operate at just 50%
capacity, and only 30% in the Dongcheng district.
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An administrative worker at a school in Shanghai said he had been ordered to eat
lunch alone at his desk and to report to human resources all the people he has
been in "close contact" with each day. Schools in the city remain closed.
Many avoid the office altogether.
A WeWork employee who was not authorized to speak with the media estimated that
just 10% to 20% of workers have returned to the company's eight Shenzhen offices
since the virus broke out. A spokesperson for the company said safety was the
company's priority, without commenting on returnee numbers.
Richard Craggs, chairman of Shenzhen-based catering firm Nom Nom, figures that
about 30% to 40% of workers in the factories it supplies in Guangdong province
are back on the job and said business is down about 80% from a year earlier.
Before the outbreak, Nom Nom distributed up to a million meals a month to
factories, schools and offices around the province.
Local governments are providing financial support to help businesses stay
afloat, with the southern city of Zhuhai offering companies 500 yuan ($72) for
each new employee they hire, while paying firms 80 yuan a day to compensate for
each employee still under lockdown in Hubei province.
Fu Rongyao said employees at his factory in the eastern province of Zhejiang,
which makes holiday lighting, had heard the government was providing workers
stipends of 2,000 yuan per worker.
He says he has received no such benefit and is unsure of how to apply for it. So
far only 10% of his staff had returned.
"They say, will you give this money to us? ... Their thinking is, if you give
this to us first, then we will come."
(Reporting by David Kirton in Shenzhen and Stella Qiu and Huizhong Wu in
Beijing; Additional reporting by David Stanway in Shanghai; Editing by Tony
Munroe and Frances Kerry)
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