VOA新闻杂志2022--放松限制后，中国企业应对COVID感染

Chinese Businesses Prepare for COVID Infections after Easing Restrictions¹

Manufacturers and businesses wanting to stay open in China are staying careful by keeping COVID-19 measures.

The Chinese government is beginning to ease its severe COVID-19 restrictions. But businesses are waiting before they lift measures meant to limit the spread of the virus.

The world's second largest economy is preparing for an increase in the number of infections as it eases its "zero-COVID" policy. China is slowly stopping its campaign of finding and isolating² infections. The government said it wants individuals to do more testing and treatment.

National health officials have urged that high-risk areas should be more clearly defined. And they added that production or business operations should continue in other places.

A representative from a leading steel factory in eastern China spoke³ with Reuters under the name Dai. Dai said they were still under "closed loop management" with workers not permitted to leave the factory. A "closed loop" system operates with little human interaction.

"It won't relax any time soon," Dai added, saying the factory wanted to hold down infections as much as possible with a system in which workers live where they work and have little contact with others.

The comments were reported as businesses told Reuters they were considering the unclear situation. They are expecting to have to deal with long periods without workers as sick workers leave. The lack of workers could affect operations for months.

Officials have ended the requirement of testing for many activities. But a restaurant company HaiDiLao said it would continue to require daily tests for workers in the capital, Beijing.

Many nations ending COVID restrictions faced similar difficulties in returning to usual business activity. But Chinese companies are struggling. China's "zero-COVID" policy was unusual in the world and its slowing economy is likely to face difficulties.

Yang Bingben heads a factory in the eastern city of Wenzhou that makes products for industrial use. Yang said many workers who have large home payments "want to earn more money to have a good Lunar New Year."

Lunar New Year is China's biggest holiday, and it falls in January next year. Yang added that officials did not give guidance on what to do if the factory, with a workforce⁴ of more than 30, was hit by a mass infection.

Yang is keeping medicines and has told his staff to follow new rules to stay home and receive half their pay if they get infected.

To avoid possible problems from any infections, Yang first considered closing the factory ahead of the Lunar New Year. But, in the end, he decided⁵ not to.

In Beijing, some state businesses and banks are grouping workers into teams to ensure work continues even with any outbreak, people told Reuters.

Andy Chen, an employee of a state-owned company, said the move came after someone in his office was infected with the coronavirus. He added, "Staff are now divided into half and take weekly turns to work in the office."

Foreign-owned Agilian Technology is based in the southern city of Dongguan and manufactures electronics. It will continue to require arriving workers to show their state of health. And it will create a larger plan against a big outbreak.

"I am confident it will be a mess for about 3 months," said the company's executive vice⁶ president, Renaud Anjoran. "We will see."

Words in This Story

isolate⁷ –v. to put or keep someone in a situation that is separate from others

relax – v. to become or to cause (something) to become less tense, tight, or stiff

staff – n. a group of people who work for an organization or business

confident – adj. having a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something

mess – n. a situation that is very complex, disordered or difficult to deal with

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。