The Chinese Agriculture Ministry is asking the country’s feed producers and slaughterhouses to resume their production as quickly as possible.
Reuters says the goal is to add to supplies during the outbreak of the Coronavirus.
China’s factories typically shut down during the Lunar New Year holidays.
Those holidays have been extended to at least February 2nd to curb the spread of the virus that’s killed 170 people in China and infected close to 8,000 more people.
The virus outbreak has led to a quick jump in food prices, as well as low food supplies in some cities due to panic buying and transportation disruptions.
In spite of the Coronavirus outbreak, China’s transportation authority is also asking their local authorities not to cut off highways and main roads to try and limit the spread of the disease.
Coronaviruses manifest differently in different hosts. The virus often causes severe respiratory disease in humans, such as pneumonia.
It likely jumped from animals to humans and is transmissible between human beings.
The virus first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan, a large city with connections both inside and outside of China.
