Customers visit the duty-free shop in Haikou, south China's Hainan province, Feb. 20, 2020. (Photo by Pu Xiaoxu/Xinhua)
Businesses are gradually resuming operation in China as the country makes progress in its fight against the coronavirus epidemic.
SHENYANG, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- Businesses are gradually resuming operation in China as the country makes progress in its fight against the coronavirus epidemic.
Some big shopping malls have reopened to the public after more than 10 days of closure along the commercial streets in the city of Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province. Customers can enter the malls after a few "checking procedures."
Just a few days ago, notices in front of the malls warned shoppers to stay away due to the epidemic.
In a supermarket in Shenyang, working staff were taking customers' temperatures when they entered on Friday. All the customers were required to scan a bar code for registration. The market had ample supply of meat, vegetables, fruits and oil. Local residents were doing their shopping with masks on.
"We put different products into various bags for customers to choose, which is more convenient," said a worker at the supermarket, which has extended its working time from four hours to eight hours a day.
Public transport services have reopened in Shenyang, and authorities have arranged more buses and increased their frequency to meet demand.
"When control was really tight, I waited for more than an hour to catch a bus," said local resident Li Ping. "Now that the situation is getting better, they've made proper adjustments."
Many closed highways started providing services again in Liaoning Province on Feb. 17.
Since the outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, Chinese governments of various levels have imposed a series of tight restrictions in public venues to decrease the risk of infection.
From Feb. 3 to 19, all places outside Hubei, the center of the virus outbreak, have seen a slowing trend in the number of new confirmed infections.
Under such circumstances, things are slowly getting back on track in many places.
In Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, authorities have launched special trains to take employees back to Hangzhou from a few provinces where the epidemic is under control and many locals need to return to Hangzhou for work.
East China's Jiangxi Province has canceled all checkpoints set up on highway entries and exits to prevent and control virus transmission.
"Restriction measures, such as closed-off residential districts, are 'special measures' taken to cut virus transmission and decrease population flow," said Liang Qidong, with the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences. "These measures were quite necessary."
As China makes progress in containing the epidemic, economic and social activities will gradually return to normal, he said. ■
