Mr Xu Wen recalled the desperate rush for masks and disinfectants as the Chengdu Frasers Logistics Hub management team under Frasers Property China grappled with the sudden COVID-19 outbreak in late January 2020, just days into the Lunar New Year.

Such supplies were running low and were needed so that the over 3,000 workers at the logistics hub could carry out their jobs safely. As Senior Property Manager, part of Wen’s responsibility was to ensure that essential food and medical supplies from the hub were distributed timely during the festive period. Both locally and globally, supermarket shelves were being wiped clean and supply chains stretched.

The priority was to solve the immediate issue then – an acute shortage of alcohol disinfectant, which was required by government regulations to be placed at checkpoints across the property. There was barely any available in Chengdu, a city 20 times the size of Singapore.

When Wen heard that the sanitising liquid was available 50km away in Guanghan county, he drove there first thing in the morning during the festive holidays. However, what should have been an uneventful two-hour return trip became a nine-hour ordeal due to road closures from quarantine measures. “I had to seize the opportunity to buy the sanitiser. There was no time to lose,” he said. He managed to lug back 200 litres worth of the solution in canisters, so that the property could function smoothly in a safe environment.

More work, few hands

Such determination shown by Wen and his property management team assured the 300 tenants – more than 50 of which are logistics-related companies – that they could continue their operations. However, it was no mean feat administering temperature checks, a single entry/exit route and rigorous cleaning in each development phase and across three phases totalling about 480,000 square metres of occupied compound in the logistics hub.

The shortage of personal protective equipment was compounded by a dearth of manpower. The New Year holiday meant that many of the hub’s employees had returned to their hometowns, and lockdowns prevented them from returning to work.

It was a mammoth effort readying the premises according to stringent government guidelines that evolved as the pandemic worsened.

“The health and well-being of our tenants, employees and community is of our utmost priority. We made swift decisions and moves to ensure the safety of the community and smooth operations at our logistics hub. Every department worked well together without complaints, and everyone was agreeable and understanding. Those on the ground implementing the measures worked the hardest and are the true heroes,” said Wen.

As for how he and his family felt when he had to soldier on during the festive period, Wen, who has been with Frasers Property for over a decade, said: “Of course my family was initially fearful for me. However, the situation was clearly urgent and unusual, and I could not abandon my post.”