BEIJING: Millions of people in China returned to work on Monday after an extended holiday aimed at slowing the spread of a coronavirus, with the extra travel deepening contagion concerns as the death toll climbed above 900.
At least 40,000 have been infected by a new pathogen believed to have emerged late last year at a market in the central city of Wuhan.
And although the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there are signs the epidemic is stabilising, the agency’s chief warned on Monday there could be more infections abroad in people who have never travelled to China.
The comments from Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus came as a team of WHO experts departed for China, led by Bruce Aylward, a veteran of previous health emergencies.
In an attempt to contain the virus, cities in Hubei province at the epicentre of the outbreak have been locked down and many transport links countrywide have been cut to stop the movement of hundreds of millions of people who usually visit family during the annual Lunar New Year break.
The holiday was officially extended by only three days but many cities and provinces pushed the date to February 10.
The unprecedented measures have turned cities into ghost towns as people stay inside.
But there were some signs of normality on Monday.
Roads in Beijing and Shanghai had significantly more traffic and the southern city of Guangzhou said it would start to resume normal public transport.
However, for those at work, it was not an easy balance to strike.
“Of course we’re worried,” said a 25-year-old man surnamed Li in a Beijing beauty salon that reopened Monday.
“When customers come in, we first take their temperature, then use disinfectant and ask them to wash their hands.” Ma Cunmei, a Beijing estate agent, said she wanted to be ready for work because she believed many workers would have leases about to expire after being out of the city so long on the extended break.
Tens of millions of people in Hubei did not return to work Monday as the province remained under lockdown.
Even outside the quarantined region, many companies were limiting staff.
The Shanghai government suggested staggered work schedules, avoiding group meals and keeping at least one metre away from colleagues.
Many were encouraged to work from home and some employers simply delayed work for another week.
State media reported that passenger numbers on the Beijing subway were down by about 50 per cent Monday compared to a normal work day.
Large shopping malls in the capital were deserted and many banks remained closed.
One bank employee in Shanghai was heading to work for a half-day, with other workers due to take over in the afternoon. The rest of the day he would work from home.
“It makes our work more difficult because we need to access the systems in our office,” he said. Schools and universities across the country remained shut. — AFP
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