Chongqing- Highly concentrated efforts have been made to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic in China as the severe and complicated epidemic situation continues across the country. 

According to the National Health Commission, the Chinese mainland reported 2,204 new locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases and 22,011 new local asymptomatic carriers on November 19.

In Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, the city's epidemic is still developing, with 183 new local cases and 4,527 asymptomatic carriers registered on November 20.

How can the city guarantee residents' living necessities during the pandemic? Chongqing has offered interesting and agile solutions for supplying vegetable packages recently.

Residents queue up to do COVID (nucleic acid) tests. (iChongqing/ Chen Zhan)

Vegetable package with 35 yuan per 7.5 kg 

In the early morning of November 16, three vans drove to Zhongliang Town, Chongqing, loaded three trucks full of vegetables.

Many staff began to work at 5:00 am in the vegetable fields, sending out the materials on time and picking and packing goods such as radishes, cabbage, and purple potatoes. 

Worth 35 yuan (about 4.89 U.S. dollars) per 7.5 kg, this kind of vegetable package has become popular among Chongqing citizens, who highly praise such affordable living material during the pandemic. 

"The vegetables we picked are directly from the ground, and we only charge the cost price," said a relevant worker. Not only that, the actual load weight of each packet is often exceeded by 7.5 kg.

"The purpose is to guarantee the security of citizens' needs, not to make money," said another. 

Now, this kind of vegetable package can also be purchased online. From the food quality, variety, price, and distribution, several e-commerce platforms provided 2-3 days of vegetable combinations for families of 3-5 people through the specialized channel for supply assurance logistics. 

The vegetables included in the package are generally nutritionally balanced and easy to store, like Chinese baby cabbage, green peppers, radishes, tomatoes, etc. 

The staff prepared the vegetable package during the pandemic. (Photo provided to iChongqing)

Supermarkets move to the doorstep

Some communities in Chongqing's central downtown are classified as high-risk areas due to the new COVID-19 cases found. How to purchase daily necessities without leaving the district becomes the key issue. 

To address the problem, the related departments in Chongqing joined hands with supermarkets to build a living supplies guarantee point near the neighborhood. 

As the first case of opening a living supplies guarantee point in Chongqing, the Chunsen Road community offered all sorts of goods only two or three meters away from the neighborhood, including rice, oil, noodles, vegetables, fruits, and condiments. 

A fence was set to separate the material point from the community so that the citizens could do the COVID (nucleic acid) testing inside while buying products outside. 

Led by one of the city's main supermarkets named Xinshiji, the spot also opened a grocery shopping group on WeChat, a Chinese instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment app developed by Tencent, offering residents daily necessities packages and special dishes to meet the community's urgent needs. 

Citizens can order the goods online, and the supermarket will distribute them on time. This shopping group has covered 410 quarantined families, serving 100% of special groups, including the elderly and the disabled.

All sorts of varieties are packed in the vegetable package. (Photo provided to iChongqing)