論文の公開元へA study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food purchasing behavior of residents in Hubei, China
概要
The general consensus is that the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, rapidly spread throughout China and worldwide since December 2019. Over the past two years, the cumulative number of inflections in 216 countries and territories was over 279 million with up to 5 million fatalities (WHO, 2022). The global COVID-19 pandemic has considerably threatened the health and daily lives of people worldwide. Taking China as an example, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, local Chinese governments have taken several measures, such as lockdown of cities, villages, and communities (XiaoQu); controlling the movement of vehicles and people; as well as suspending work and schooling. Supermarkets tend to shorten their operating hours, while restaurants tend to suspend operations or ban dine-in food services. These measures have had an evident impact on residents' food-purchasing behaviors.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese governments and communities have directed that each household should not go out more than 1–2 times a day to purchase food and unless necessary. In addition, people were required to wear masks, their body temperature was checked, and fill out and present a State Department Epidemic Prevention Big Data trip card. In this case, the main food purchasing channel shifted from supermarket and farmers' markets to “community distribution” (Figure 1). “Community distribution” implies an emergency measure that is undertaken by the government to supply household goods directly to communities, regardless of the size of the community and its needs. The group leaders of each community, comprising staff from the street office, party members, and volunteers, are responsible for collating and registering the community residents’ needs regarding household goods; liaising with bulk food wholesale markets, farmers markets, and supermarkets to make purchases; and delivering the goods to residents at designated sites. This particular emergency supply chain model is unique and globally uncommon, and is closely linked to China's political system as well as to the widespread use of mobile payment methods, such as Alipay and WeChat Pay, in China.
