Aerial photo taken on March 20, 2022 shows citizens lining up to take nucleic acid test at a testing site in Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province. Photo:Xinhua

 Authorities in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province apologized to local residents for the short supply of vegetables as the city's two major vegetable wholesale markets were temporarily closed due to the sudden epidemic flare-up of COVID-19. 

Jilin Province reported 1,055 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, including 622 in Changchun. 

The sudden closure of the city's two major vegetable wholesale markets due to the grim epidemic situation in the city and the seriously insufficient personnel for supply chains, have led to inconvenience for local resident when buying vegetables, Liu Renyuan, deputy secretary general of Changchun explained during a press conference on Tuesday morning. Foods ordered online by some residents also failed to be delivered at the doors of some residents. 

Vegetable supplies of the two wholesale markets, Northeast Asia Grain and Oil and Higreen, together with that of Guoou Warehousing wholesale market, account for over 80 percent of the city's vegetable supply. 

The response came after a senior resident who cried for vegetables outside a supermarket last Friday since he did not know how to order foods online, which went viral online and sparked public concerns over the food supply problem of senior residents. 

 "We felt particularly anxious and uneasy for the impact and inconvenience that was brought to the residents as a result of our imperfect work. I would like to deeply apologize to the residents," Liu said. 

To solve the inconvenience for local residents to buy vegetables, a joint mechanism of supply and security has been launched by the provincial government and the city government will organize multiple channels to ensure food supply and storage, Liu said, noting that a daily supply of about 1,000 tons of vegetable packages will be delivered to Changchun to alleviate the shortage of sorting and distribution personnel. 

Many cities in Jilin, such as Baishan and Ji'an, have come to their rescue by delivering vegetable packages to Changchun. A total of 210 tons of vegetable packages were transported to Changchun from Baishan between Saturday and Monday. Ji'an also sent 30,000 vegetable packages to the city in short supply of vegetables on Monday.