For many companies in Shanghai, Feb 10 was their first day back at work, and shopping centers and restaurants have adopted methods to prevent and control the coronavirus epidemic.

One-meter waiting lines in dining halls

In some shopping malls and restaurants in Shanghai, "one-meter waiting lines" can be seen everywhere.

At a dining hall in a big shopping mall, rows of long tables had been removed to allow customers to eat at small "one-person" tables.

When work resumed, the dining hall temporarily adjusted its original layout of 680 tables and chairs, reducing it to 220 tables with a chair each, all spaced one meter apart, the manager said.

Additionally, the exit and entrance of the dining hall were adjusted so that both were one-way to avoid face-to-face infection between customers.

Restaurants launch "contactless delivery" service

A food service with a sign saying "pick-up spot" was set up at a McDonald's store on Siping Road. After customers used a phone app or a self-service machine to order food, whether dine-in or take-out, the waiter puts the prepared food into a bag, seals it and places it at the spot where customers take it with no face-to-face contact with staff members.

Robots employed during the virus outbreak

Shanghai's shopping malls are drawing up new measures to ensure safety from the virus epidemic, with robots taking over some service tasks.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the newly deployed robots are responsible for patrol tasks outside the shopping malls, and playing broadcasts at certain times to remind customers about wearing masks and taking other safety precautions.

"Replacing some of the manual labors with robots can effectively reduce direct contact between workers and consumers, and avoid cross-infection caused by contact as much as possible," said Han Xingxing, a public relations agent at a big shopping mall in Shanghai.