(Yicai Global) Feb. 11 -- Shanghai's foreign-funded manufacturers have resumed work among their local peers while taking precautions to keep their staff safe amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Chemicals firm Covestro has turned on the machines at its largest global factory in Shanghai but not to full capacity, Xinhua News Agency reported. The Leverkusen-headquartered company will regularly disinfect the premises and shuttle buses while providing the staff with protective equipment and temperature checkups.

The new virus epidemic has claimed 1,017 lives and infected over 42,700 people in China, prompting manufacturers and retailers to prolong the Spring Festival holiday to stop the virus from spreading.

North Carolina-headquartered conglomerate Honeywell International has resumed work at its 18 Chinese factories, including those located in southeastern Fujian and southern Guangdong provinces. However, some 95 percent of its staff will continue working from home this week, Zhang Yufeng, president of Honeywell China, told the same news source.

Honeywell's Shanghai face mask plant has made its employees work overtime during the Spring Festival to ensure a sufficient supply of products, providing the country with more than 20 million masks from late January till now. 

Lin-gang Special Area of the China Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, where Tesla's Shanghai factory is located, has helped the California-headquartered carmaker to get back to work to avoid delivery delays. The administration facilitated accommodation for 600 new employees and offered 10,000 face masks, as well as thermometers and disinfectants, according to Zhu Zhisong, executive deputy director of the area. 

Editor: Emmi Laine