Returning to Work

Hubei Province in central China, hit hard by the novel coronavirus outbreak, has started sending out workers after new infections petered out in most of its cities.

The cities of Jingzhou, Huanggang, Xianning and Qianjiang have arranged chartered vehicles to send out thousands of migrant workers at a time when factories across China are rushing to resume work amid a labor crunch.

On March 15, 49 chartered vehicles carrying 1,445 workers departed from Huanggang, which had reported no new cases for 13 days.

The city had recorded 2,907 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Local officials said 750,000 migrant workers who returned home for the Spring Festival holiday have been stranded in Huanggang since travel restrictions were imposed to minimize infection risks.

The city government has contacted companies in the provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu to receive local workers, and sent police officers and medics to escort the chartered vehicles.

On the morning of March 15, another 72 workers from Qianjiang arrived in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in east China, after an 11-hour journey on four chartered buses.

“They will go through 14-day quarantine at a designated spot upon arrival. The Shaoxing Government will cover all the expenses incurred and provide them with daily necessities during the quarantine,” said Xuan Fangjun with Shaoxing’s human resources and social security bureau.

The Hubei Provincial Government has promised to issue health codes to facilitate personnel movement within Hubei and make arrangement to send workers directly from their homes to factories outside the province.