Vendors keeping city fed during outbreak

After purchasing loads of fruit and vegetables from a wholesale market, Liu Xueqing hopped on his truck and started to drive toward communities in Chang’an district, Shijiazhuang, the capital city in Hebei province that has been hit heavily by COVID-19 for over a week.

Liu, a 54-year-old vegetable vendor at Yaodong Street Market in Chang’an district, was given a task by the market’s manager two days ago to deliver agricultural products to four communities in the district so that the necessities can be accessible to residents who are restricted from going out.

“It’s more exhausting now compared with before when I just sold vegetables at my stall in the street market,” he said.

The market he worked at has been closed since last week due to the new COVID-19 cluster outbreak in the city.

Shijiazhuang has reported over 260 confirmed cases since the outbreak on Jan 2. All residents in the city have been told to stay home for two weeks since Wednesday.

To guarantee supplies for residents at home, the city has taken a series of measures to provide adequate daily necessities, including food, gas, heating and water supplies.

Qiaoxi Vegetable Central Wholesale Market, which supplies about 85 percent of the agricultural products needed by downtown Shijiazhuang and its suburban areas, have increased supplies from 3,000 metric tons per day to 3,500 tons, according to the city government.

Residents can order what they need in WeChat groups, and the orders will be given to vendors like Liu via community management organs. After vendors’ purchases from markets are delivered to communities, the products will be handed out to each household.

Besides food delivery, the city’s heating supply to residents has been increased to make sure that residents can stay warm at home, according to its city supply center. Staff are on duty around the clock to deal with any disruption in heating supply, it said.

Water and gas supplies have also been increased, and equipment quality checks are more frequent.

For transportation needs, the local government has organized special car fleets as free taxis to send and pick up people who have emergencies, including doctors and nurses who need to go to work during the epidemic.

The city suspended public transportation on Saturday after residents started home quarantine.

“Life and work has been abnormal, but each one of us is doing our part to join together in the fight against the disease,” Liu said.

WANG ZHUANGFEI / CHINA DAILY Medical workers collect a sample from a vendor for COVID-19 testing at Qiaoxi market in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, on Monday. The market, which supplies about 85 percent of all the farm products for the city and its surrounding areas, is operating normally.