Supermarkets are some of the few businesses here trying to carry on as normal. Anti-virus controls which started in late January closed factories, restaurants, cinemas, offices and shops nationwide. Car and real estate sales have plummetted. Conversely supermarkets are battling to stay open and serve fresh produce. Each day begins with a rigorous clean out, and the entire shop is sprayed with disinfectant. 7Fresh branch manager Yang Hongyun says: "Since the outbreak began, we have carried out a comprehensive disinfection in our stores. We do comprehensive checks of our employees every day, such as measuring their temperatures in the morning. We issue one-time use masks to each employee free of charge. He says: "For customers, we measure the temperatures of each customer as they enter the store. We require them to be wearing masks in order to for them to enter. Another (safeguard) is the store. From the opening to close, we comprehensively disinfect our shopping carts and baskets, and our store floor, to ensure the safety of our staff and customers working and shopping inside." E-commerce giant JD.com, which owns 7Fresh, says its rice sales are up 20 times from a year ago and cooking oil sales are up five times. Over the past month its drivers have delivered 71,500 tons of rice, flour and other grains. They've also taken 27 million liters of cooking oil and 50,000 tons of meat, eggs, vegetables and other fresh products direct to people's homes. Yang says the shop has been operating normally for people who want to collect their own shopping. He's noticed these people are buying in larger amounts than before. "Despite the viral outbreak, we have been operating normally as usual. People come less often here to shop now, but the amount people buy has gone up a lot, especially everyday goods like vegetables and fruits, rice noodles and oil," says Yang. Yang says his store is complying with government measures to combat the epidemic, and that though there was a bit of panic-buying at the beginning of the outbreak, deliveries of food have proceeded smoothly since. "According to our national price law, during this epidemic, if we violate national requirements, we'll be strictly punished. We have clear regulations in this company. We will not adjust our prices during this period," says Yang. After checking his computer to see how many orders he has for the day Wang Wanqiang swings into action. He runs around the shop collecting lists of groceries, snatching packs of apples and cabbage, noodles and rice. Each shopping order is hooked up on a conveyor belt and taken to the delivery vans which will travel to customers isolating themselves at home amid a virus epidemic. "Because of the epidemic, citizens feel very panicked and they worry about basic delivery. We will try our best to reassure them that the epidemic will be over soon. In the meantime, we'll provide them good delivery services," says Wang Wanqiang. Wang is one of dozens of 7Fresh employees handling online orders for groceries. In-person sales have slowed since the outbreak, with some worried customers avoiding stores and other public areas where they can come in contact with others. Because of the extra demand for home delivered goods the company is taking on 20,000 new employees to bolster its 180,000-strong logistics workforce of drivers and warehouse workers. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm QUICKTAKE ON SOCIAL: Follow QuickTake on Twitter: twitter.com/quicktake Like QuickTake on Facebook: facebook.com/quicktake Follow QuickTake on Instagram: instagram.com/quicktake Subscribe to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/2FJ0oQZ Email us at [email protected] QuickTake by Bloomberg is a global news network delivering up-to-the-minute analysis on the biggest news, trends and ideas for a new generation of leaders.