It’s no New Year holiday at all for workers like Li
LI Zhiming, 29, has had an extremely busy Chinese New Year holiday.
As an urban management and law enforcement official with the Daning team in Jing’an District, he is on 24-hour alert.
His daily duty covers more than 500 items, including closing down illegal street vendors, dismantling unauthorized structures in apartment blocks, preventing people from storing junk in public spaces, and spotting garbage sorting irregularities.
He needs to rush to a scene once he receives complaints from residents.
For this Spring Festival holiday, he is even busier and the priority is the prevention of the spread of coronavirusrelated pneumonia.
The State Administration for Market Regulation has ordered a ban of all live wild animal trade. The decision came after the geographical distribution of infection cases in central China’s Wuhan, the center of the coronavirus outbreak, indicated a close relationship between the outbreak and illegal sales of wildlife in a market.
Li patrols streets and businesses to suspend the trade in wild animals and live poultry and cracks down on sales of fake protective items like face masks and ethanol.
“The top-level emergency response mechanism has been activated, and we are on 24-hour and top-grade alert,” said Li. “Wet markets and farm produce markets are targeted.” Supermarkets, pharmacies, and residential complexes are also inspected by Li.
The jurisdiction of the team under the Shanghai Urban Management and Law Enforcement Bureau covers more than 20 residential complexes in the Daning area. Li has been working throughout the holiday.
He even conducted 24-hour inspections and patrols on wet markets and residential complexes on the second day of the Chinese New Year.
“The aim is to prevent any comeback of unauthorized vendors and eliminate hazards," said Li.
Li feels sorry for his family.
“I don’t have time to be with them during the holiday,” said Li. “But I plan to spend more time with them after the pneumonia outbreak.”
Intensive inspections targeting the live poultry and wild animal trade are being conducted throughout the city.