China urges food producers to resume production amid virus outbreak

China's agriculture ministry on Thursday urged feed producers and slaughterhouses to speed up the resumption of production, in a bid to increase supplies amid the outbreak of the new coronavirus. Factories typically shut down during the Lunar New Year holidays, which have been extended to at least Feb. 2 to curb the spread of the epidemic that has killed 170 in China and infected more than 7,700 individuals.

The virus outbreak has led to a jump in prices and an insufficient supply of food in some Chinese cities due to panic buying and disruptions to transportation. The transportation ministry issued a statement on Thursday asking local authorities not to cut off highways and main roads between provinces despite the virus outbreak.