In this Feb. 12, 2020, photo, a worker disinfects a mall near an advertisement for a car in Beijing, China. Automakers are gradually reopening factories in China that were idled by anti-virus control.
“Local governments are putting their full weight behind helping businesses open,” the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, Ker Gibbs, said in a statement. The outbreak prompted the government to extend the Lunar New Year holiday to keep factories and offices closed and workers at home.
“Most factories have a severe shortage of workers, even after they are allowed to open,” said Gibbs. “This is going to have a severe impact on global supply chains that is only beginning to show up.” The virus “adds to the challenges that the sector is already facing,” said Fitch Ratings in a report.
These employees are asked to go back to work when this virus is still rampant.