Han Ximin

ximhan@126.com

SHENZHEN Metro Group is implementing crowd-control restrictions at busy Metro stations to avoid crowding on platforms and in trains during rush hours as more people are heading back to work.

On Tuesday, 1.75 million people took the Metro across the city, an increase of 52 percent compared with the previous Tuesday, the company said. Passenger flow at Shenda, Hi-tech Park, Shenzhen North, Pingzhou and Luohu stations has sharply increased.

The measures aim to keep people at a distance from each other and evenly distributed throughout stations.

Passengers are advised to avoid crowding at platforms, keep a safe one-meter distance from others and use elevators as little as possible.

For the month of February, all seven lines operated by the group carried 559,600 passengers a day, about one-ninth of the number before the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Before the outbreak, the daily number of passengers using the Metro in Shenzhen stood at around 6 million, while the record high was 6.62 million July 12 last year.

Meanwhile, the company has set up a production line making face masks for its employees.

The production line, put into operation at Shenyun Depot on Feb. 19, produces about 40,000 masks a day. Its capacity can be increased to 60,000-80,000 a day, depending on demand, the company said Tuesday. The first 100,000 masks were donated to medics working on the front line of the COVID-19 battle.

As work resumption gains speed across the city, the masks are key to protecting the health of employees working at the Metro’s 378 construction sites and 200 Metro stations.

Also in cooperation with Tencent, the company has recently launched an epidemic prevention app. The app registers the personal information, recent trips and health conditions of around 100,000 Metro and affiliated employees as well as information on passengers suspected of having COVID-19 symptoms.

In Beijing, two subway stations begin piloting a reservation system Friday to avoid the congregation of passengers, according to Xinhua.

From 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on weekdays, passengers can book a 10-minute reservation slot on their smartphones to enter Tiantongyuan and Shahe stations. After successfully making the reservations, passengers have a 30-minute window to enter the stations via a fast track using a QR code generated on their phones. Those who do not make a reservation must wait in line before entering.

Local Daily Report on COVID-19 Infections

Total: 418

New: 0

Recovered: 350

Death toll: 3