Lu Xiangmin, manager of Wutaizha Supermarket of Wushang Group, sorts vegetables in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province. [China Women's News]

Wuhan, capital city of Central China's Hubei Province and the epicenter of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), has been in lockdown since January 23. People are advised to avoid risks of getting infected in public areas.

Besides the medical staff fighting against the COVID-19 on the frontline, employees in supermarkets are not retreating but are sticking to their posts to ensure daily necessities for residents in the locked-down city.

The following are stories of three women who are helping to maintain crucial supplies of food and sanitation products. All of them are managers of supermarkets under the Wushang Group, a state-owned retail giant based in Wuhan.

The company has 35 supermarkets in Wuhan, one third of the city's state-owned supermarkets. As of February 15, they supplied 29,000 kinds of food and 34,000 varieties of non-food products every day.

Twenty-eight of its 35 managers in Wuhan are women. Lu Xiangmin is one of them.

Lu Xiangmin: Ensuring Every Team Member's Safety While Working Hard

Lu, Manager of the Wutaizha Supermarket in Wuhan's Wuchang District, said she and her colleagues took people's demands as the top priority. 

Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Wuhan to inspect the situation and offer instructions on epidemic prevention and control on January 27. He inspected the Wutaizha Supermarket and found that prices were stable and everything was in an orderly manner.

Due to the epidemic, more than 200 workers in the supermarket have been evacuated. There are now only 70 employees in the supermarket, including 50 women.

Each of the 70 staff members has to be responsible for more than two workers' workloads, ranging from downloading and packaging to sorting and weighing.

"Our team members keep the store operating normally with their shoulders and hands," Lu said. She herself has become a versatile worker.

The store has provided its staff with masks and gloves, but their protective gear is  not enough. As their manager, Lu worries about their safety, saying that her biggest wish is that every team member is safe and sound when they win the fight against the COVID-19.

Xiong Haiyun: Do Not Retreat Since Residents in Wuhan Need Us

Xiong Haiyun (front) arranges vegetables in the supermarket. [China Women's News]

The city underwent a sharp drop in temperature and the local weather service issued a  blizzard warning on February 14.

The next day, Xiong Haiyun, manager of one of Wushang Group's supermarkets, and her colleagues increased their stock by 30 percent and arrived at their posts two hours early under the chilly weather.

Though the customers did not come to the store in person, there was a surge in online orders including those from group buyers in communities.

After helping meet the heavy demand in the morning, Xiong donated electric blankets and microwave ovens to medical personnel fighting against the virus on the frontline at designated hospitals on behalf of the Wushang Group in the afternoon.

Since the lockdown in Wuhan on January 23, Xiong has been busy seeking sources of supplies, comforting staff members, disinfecting surfaces and taking over others' shifts.

In order to ensure the safety of the staff members, Xiong trains on personal protection every day. She also presents masks to her colleagues as gifts and offers shuttle bus services jointly with other departments.

Some of the employees faced resistance from their family because of the highly contagious virus. Xiong said she has heard those objections as well, but called on the employees not to retreat since the residents in Wuhan need them.

Qi Lijun: Trying Our Best Regardless of Costs and Difficulties

Qi Lijun sorts vegetables in the supermarket. [China Women's News]

From January 27 to February 9, manager Qi Lijun and her colleagues in Zhuankou Store, one of Wushang Group's supermarkets, have packaged vegetables totaling 600 kilograms for four remote residential communities in the city. 

From February 4 to 7, 12,400 boxes of milk were sent to the builders in Huoshenshan Hospital, one of two hospitals in Wuhan built to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

Qi kept her mobile phone on service 24 hours a day to update the demand of the Huoshenshan Hospital. The order was usually sent in at 9 or 10 in the evening.

On January 27, the store was assigned to deliver more than 700 items of daily necessities to a nearby designated hospital within 24 hours.

The first 400 items were in place at 8 in the evening thanks to Qi and her team's four hours of hard work. And the rest were sent to the hospital within 18 hours.

"In such a special period, employees of state-owned enterprises should take the initiative to work on the frontline and try our best regardless of costs and difficulties," Qi said.

(Source: China Women's News/Translated and edited by Women of China)