At Yangtze Memory, which is making 64-layer 3D NAND, employees are still away from work, reports the Nikkei.

40% to 50% of Yangtze’s workers stayed at work during the New Year break and the rest are ‘struggling’ to return,  reports the newspaper.

Because it is a key national project, Yangtze received special approval to ship products in and out of its factories. It distributes its products through Shanghai.

Despite the special treatment from the authorities, Yangtze’s the staff shortages are causing a lot of difficulties.

“The employees who stayed at the company since the Lunar New Year are under big pressure as they have to take turns to look after production without much rest, again and again,” reports the Nikkei quoting a local source, “any employee who returns to work has to stay in the dormitory areas for a 14-days quarantine and avoid going outside before going back to the main production plaza and headquarters.”

Five central government institutions, including the People’s Bank of China, the Finance Ministry, and securities and banking regulators, have created the ‘Virus Bond’ to help companies which have urgent funding needs as a result of the virus.