China Focus: Charter flights, buses, trains bring migrant workers back to work

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, February 19, 2020
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FUZHOU, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Ke Guobin, CEO of a stationery manufacturer in Jinjiang, east China's Fujian Province, was delighted to see the arrival of a plane from Mangshi, southwest China's Yunnan Province, on Wednesday afternoon. All the passengers onboard the aircraft are his employees returning to work in the coastal city.

Ke's company resumed operation 10 days ago after the Lunar New Year holiday, but he had to grapple with the shortage of workers and the disruption of supply chains because of the novel coronavirus outbreak. So far, only 30 percent of his employees have returned to the factory.

Jinjiang and the surrounding coastal cities of Fujian Province are important manufacturing areas in China, employing over 1 million workers from other regions of the country. To resume economic activities, getting workers back safe and sound has become the top priority for many labor-intensive factories.

After weighing up the cost and efficiency of various transportation methods, Ke decided to charter a plane to bring his staff back. The company even covered the bus fare from workers' villages to the airport.

Ke's woes are emblematic of the problems facing companies as they try to reopen following the lockdown caused by the virus.

Many villages and residential complexes are on lockdown and people were urged to keep off the streets in an effort to prevent the spread of the epidemic. Factories in many provinces were allowed to reopen starting Feb. 10, but workers are not able to reach the factories because there are still travel restrictions in some places.

To meet the employment demand of enterprises and reduce the risks of the epidemic spreading, cities in coastal provinces are using charter services to transport workers back to work.

In Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian, the local government sent 98 charter buses to bring 2,450 workers back to work from southwest China's provinces of Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou by Monday.

On Tuesday morning, two buses carrying 37 migrant workers from Pu'er City of Yunnan arrived at the Zhenglong Textile Company of Fuzhou. The 5,000-km round trip was paid for by the local government.

Bai Yingbin, a worker of the textile manufacturer, said without the special bus service, he would have had to make multiple transfers, which he feared might increase the risk of being exposed to the virus, and take longer to make the trip.

But to resume work, workers have to go through stringent safety measures first. After getting off the buses, workers lined up for temperature checks, disinfection and nucleic acid tests as five health workers in full-body hazmat suits started collecting swabs from the new arrivals.

They were then guided to quarantined rooms to wait for test results to tell them whether they have the virus, which takes at least 24 hours. Even if the results come back negative, they have to stay quarantined for at least another week before they are allowed to resume work.

"We have secured enough space to quarantine the returning workers, and we will provide them with daily necessities and meals during the period," said Chen Feng, general manager of the company, adding that more charter buses will be dispatched to bring his staff back.

Chen's company generates over 2 billion yuan (286 million U.S. dollars) of revenue every year with 1,000 employees, of whom over 400 are still stranded in their inland hometowns.

A charter flight for migrant workers is expected to depart from Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, at around 2 p.m. Thursday and arrive at Fuzhou in the evening. A similar plane will bring workers back to Fuzhou from Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, on Friday, said local authorities.

A special train for migrant workers is set to leave Dingxi, northwest China's Gansu Province, on Friday morning and will arrive at Fuzhou Railway Station in the evening, according to China Railway Fuzhou Branch.

Special measures have been arranged for passengers on the charter trains, including strict temperature monitoring, better ventilation and scattered seating.

More "point-to-point" direct trains for returning migrant workers will be opened to help workers from Sichuan, Chongqing and Guizhou return to areas including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou after the Spring Festival, according to China Railway. Enditem

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