COVID-19 SPECIAL

Beijing moves cautiously to get people back to work

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On April 1, tens of thousands of workers in Beijing returned to work after months away from the office, following the coronavirus outbreak.
As Beijing gingerly stepped up its back-to-work experiment yesterday, streets, which for weeks had barely any traffic, started to get filled with cars and Beijing's Second Ring Road (above), a major thoroughfare going through the capital, even had sl
As Beijing gingerly stepped up its back-to-work experiment yesterday, streets, which for weeks had barely any traffic, started to get filled with cars and Beijing's Second Ring Road (above), a major thoroughfare going through the capital, even had slight traffic jams. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Packed train carriages, slight traffic jams and electric scooters jostling for road space alongside bicycles - Beijing gingerly stepped up its back-to-work experiment yesterday as more companies chose the date to resume operations.

Streets, which for weeks had barely any traffic, started to get filled with cars and Beijing's Second Ring Road, a major thoroughfare going through the capital, even had slight traffic jams.

Since the coronavirus outbreak brought the country to a standstill for nearly two months, China has been attempting to balance bringing its economy back to full capacity with preventing a second wave of infections in the local population.

Various cities had restored some form of production by late February, but with several caveats, including workers being required to wear a mask at all times, a limit on the number of staff allowed in the work place, and even rules on employees dining apart.

More than 98 per cent of industrial companies, including those producing pharmaceutical products, were back at work by last weekend, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In Beijing, work resumption has been carefully calibrated and companies had to register to resume work, with many choosing to restart operations yesterday.

During rush hour, once-empty subway carriages were packed, with seats occupied by mask-wearing commuters, several taking extra precautions like wearing surgical gloves and spritzing themselves with disinfectant spray.

Most workers The Straits Times spoke to said they were happy just to get out of the house.

"I've been thoroughly bored, so it's nice to come back to work," said a jewellery sales assistant, who wanted to be known as Ms Liu.

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"Work is probably good for health, because staying at home all the time isn't great."

She added that some retail outlets like hers had employees come in on Monday to clean and get the units ready to start selling again.

They also had to be trained on a new policy on how to disinfect pieces after customers - who are made to sanitise their hands - had tried them on.

An auditor, who wanted to be known as Mr Song and was waiting outside a bank in east Beijing, said it was good to resume a sense of normalcy, even if measures like social distancing at mealtimes remained in place. "We have no choice (with staggered seating), we can't go an entire day without eating or drinking, can we?"

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 02, 2020, with the headline Beijing moves cautiously to get people back to work. Subscribe