Coronavirus bites into business on China’s lockdown fringe
- Farmers and firms face grim prospects as crops go to waste and people stay home
Li, 38, has 23 greenhouses covering about 6,000 square metres (1.5 acres), but his sales have plummeted, with customers staying at home to avoid contagion. Many of his now ripe strawberries might have to be thrown away, he said.
“The Spring Festival is supposed to be our best time,” he said.
“This year it has coincided with this, so there will definitely be losses,” he said, referring to the outbreak. “I just hope this epidemic can be over quickly. That way my strawberries can return to normal sales levels.”
Jiujiang, which is separated from Hubei by the Yangtze River, has reported 86 cases of infection. The city of about 5 million people has restricted access to the bridges connecting it to Hubei and is also monitoring the river.
Banquets and other gatherings have also been prohibited.
“It doesn’t look good for this year,” said the owner of a Muslim restaurant, surnamed Ma, who wondered what he would do with the extra supplies he brought in for a Lunar New Year surge in business that never happened.
Taxi driver Liao Jidong marvelled during a tour of Jiujiang’s main shopping streets on Tuesday at how unusually quiet it was on the eleventh day of the new year, an auspicious date in the Chinese calendar.
“So this year I guess they’ll have to wait until the outbreak ends and then find some new auspicious dates,” he said.
