Hubei to accelerate work resumption

A chartered train carried 547 migrant workers from Hubei province to Zhejiang province on Wednesday, marking the first time citizens have left the province that was hit hardest by the novel coronavirus pandemic on the Chinese mainland since the lockdown in late January.

The workers, from Hubei's Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture, arrived in Zhejiang's Shaoxing city on Wednesday evening and were welcomed by the city's mayor and executive vice-mayor, the Shaoxing bureau of human resources and social security said on Wednesday.

All workers had to have their personal identities and health conditions verified before boarding the train, and after they arrived in Shaoxing they were taken to isolation centers to undergo 14 days of quarantine, the bureau said.

Shaoxing has arranged eight chartered buses to bring 159 migrant workers from Hubei's Qianjiang and Jingmen cities to the city since mid-March, it said.

Hubei will accelerate work and production resumption as the outbreak continues to ease, a top local official said on Wednesday.

The province will adopt risk and region-specific restoration measures in its efforts to resume work and production, and enterprises have been classified into four categories in terms of priorities given in work resumption, said Cao Guangjing, the province's vice-governor.

Enterprises that provide daily necessities to citizens, such as electricity, gas, oil, water and food, as well as enterprises that have a great impact on global supply chains will be given top priority in work resumption, Cao said at a news conference.

Financial, insurance and other enterprises in major industries are second in work resumption priority, while local industrial and farming enterprises, construction, legal accountant and software enterprises come next, he said.

Enterprises that draw large groups of people, such as movie theaters, bookstores, bars and gyms will be the last to resume work. They are not allowed to resume operations before the epidemic is over, he added.

Cao also stressed that unreasonable restrictions that hinder work resumption should be lifted to enable more people to return to work.

Hubei reported no new suspected cases of the novel coronavirus disease for two consecutive days, the provincial health commission said on Wednesday.

The number of existing suspected cases has been reduced to zero as well after ruling out three suspected cases on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, Hubei has seen no newly confirmed COVID-19 cases for 13 consecutive days in its 16 cities and prefectures outside Wuhan.

Ma Zhenhuan contributed to this story.