As measures to prevent the COVID-19 outbreak prove to be effective, Haimen city in Nantong has begun taking steps to help local companies resume operations.

The city sent a total of 18 chartered buses on Feb 26 to retrieve nearly 200 workers from Henan, Anhui, and Shandong provinces.

Every bus was staffed with two or three drivers, one government official, one police officer, and one medical worker to ensure safety throughout the journey. Milk, cookies, and drinking water were also available on each bus.

Officials said more such buses will be sent out in the near future.

As all offline work was canceled amid the outbreak, the city's human resource department set up a free online recruitment channel through the WeChat account "海门就业直通车" (Haimen Direct Train for Employment).

An online human resource system was also launched on Feb 18, and more than 70 local companies have advertised positions on the platform.

As of March 2, a total of 2,868 companies in Haimen had resumed operations, with 117,383 workers returning to work. 97.6 percent of companies above the designated size — those with annual revenue of 20 million yuan ($2.88 million) or more — have resumed operations.