Virus-hit Tianjin ensures necessity supply amid control of Omicron spread

TIANJIN, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- North China's Tianjin Municipality which has witnessed the latest COVID-19 resurgence has launched an emergency response mechanism to guarantee the supply of daily necessities.

According to the Tianjin municipal bureau of commerce, local authorities have mobilized major wholesale suppliers, supermarkets and vegetable markets to add inventory in order to cope with the market demand for meat, eggs and vegetables.

The stock of vegetables has increased from two days to three to four days, and the stock of rice, flour and oil has increased from 20 days to 30 days in order to cope with the city's fight against the outbreak of the Omicron variant.

The municipality with 13.86 million people neighbors the national capital of Beijing. The local authorities said Sunday that it would launch a citywide nucleic acid testing after 20 people tested positive for COVID-19 from 6 p.m. Friday to 9 p.m. Saturday.

The infections were reported Saturday in Jinnan District, and the gene sequencing found the first two locally transmitted confirmed cases were the VOC/Omicron variant, said the municipal headquarters for COVID-19 prevention and control.

Currently, the city's major wholesale markets for agricultural products have a sufficient supply of goods.

After the report of the COVID-19 infections, some commodities such as vegetables, eggs and pork were out of stock for a short time on Sunday due to panic buying in some markets. However, all major supermarkets and vegetable markets replenished goods in time, and the market supply basically returned to normal on Sunday afternoon, according to the commerce bureau.

It said that the city now has ample stock of meat, eggs, vegetables, salt, milk, bottled water and instant food. The emergency mechanism would ensure the reserved commodities are sent out to maintain market supply in time once necessary.

The bureau monitors the inventories and commodity prices of over 180 suppliers of daily necessities to ensure market prices stable and check on price gouging and hoarding.