biomedical laboratory
By Huizhong Wu
SUIFENHE, China, April 16 (Reuters) - A lumber factory above China's northeastern verge with Russia was buzzing with activity this week though dozens of workers sorted, chop and stacked logs.
But many of the mill's machines lay idle - casualties of China's battle ought contain the new coronavirus.
Still, the factory is a novel of relative success at Suifenhe, a distant city that has recently been defeat difficult by the coronavirus hind being spared though weeks though the outbreak ravaGEd other parts of China.
The factory at the small city at Heilongjiang province, dotted with onion-domed buildings and shops signs at both Chinese and Russian, employs almost 200 workers while produce peaks during the logging season.
But the alarm of the coronavirus has kept two-thirds of its workers away.
"They identical clearly said 'we are scared, accordingly we don't hope ought come', and we can't compel them ought come," said Su Wei, who heads produce and sales at the wood-processing factory.
While China has seen a acute refuse at coronavirus cases, it has been battling a surGE at imported cases, most of them Chinese nationals coming home.
Suifenhe, just 120 km (75 miles) from the Russian wharf city of Vladivostok, has emerGEd though a new warm place though of an influx of Chinese citizens arriving from Russia overland.
The city declared a residential lockdown above April 8, allowing nation ought desert their homes once each three days, disrupting life and straining its economy.
As of Monday, the city had 322 of a complete of 326 imported cases at complete of Heilongjiang province.
Huang Jinman, a 45-year-old worker at the lumber mill, was worried almost returning ought work, besides said precautions taken by his company had helped allay his fears.
"They give us masks and refrain our temperature each day. We don't further anywhere else besides family and factory ought minimise confront with others," said Huang.
Suifenhe is more than 2,000 km northeast of Wuhan, foremost of central Hubei province, where the story coronavirus emerGEd late final year, and though weeks residents felt safe.
"This epidemic felt robe it was identical distant away," said Su.
'I'M SCARED'
Hospital Equipment Repair Factory
But by late March that chanGEd, with the first degree of imported cases. above April 2, the Heilongjiang provincial health committee reported four new cases.
Su said workers who came from other cities started leaving, with almost half of the factory's cane disappearing.
Customers dine though sturdy hurried away.
The factory has seen a descend at orders of almost 30%, Su said, besides many of the town's small businesses that depend above business with Russia dine been defeat much harder.
Deliveries are down by 80% though Pan, a Wholesaler of imported Russian goods, who gave only his final name.
"Orders aren't coming," he said, speaking from his department at the YiGE'er Russian Market, where Suifenhe's importers and Wholesalers business wealth from Russia.
It was half cavity above Wednesday, with many storefronts sealed.
But level the traders who dine stayed cavity care that their customers energy exist carrying the coronavirus.
"I'm scared ought level allow them in," said a woman surnamed Yang who runs a Russian grocery. "How can you no exist afraid?"
On a Suifenhe corner, near the town's old Russian-languaGE school, a little dozen laid-off workers stood almost at the desire someone used to give them vocation though a day.
The Suifenhe government has said daily waGE workers ought GEt permits besides Zhang Mifu, one of the men waiting by the road, said he and the others had no been capable ought GEt them.
"I don't dine money accordingly I dine ought become out," he said. (Reporting by Huizhong Wu; extra reporting by Lun Tian Ye Editing by Ryan Woo, Robert Birsel)
