Automakers are reopening factories in China that were idled by anti-virus controls as they try to reverse a sales slump in their biggest market.
Local officials have orders from the ruling Communist Party to get businesses functioning again while still enforcing anti-disease curbs that shut down much of the world's second-largest economy.
Automakers say they are checking employees for the virus's telltale fever, barring visitors and telling employees to stay home if they have been in Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak, or other areas that have imposed travel curbs. Obstacles include a requirement for workers who return from other areas -- as millions are doing after the holiday -- to make sure they are virus-free by staying at home for its 14-day incubation period.
Sales of SUVs, minivans and sedans hit an annual peak of 24.7 million in 2017 and have declined since then. Last year's sales tumbled 9.6% to 21.4 million.
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