[Daily life at the Mongolian factory] The lockdown has ended and factory operations have resumed!
Hello! This is HushTug's Hariuna.
Since I wrote this blog at the end of last year, Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar, has been locked down twice due to the impact of COVID-19.
Actually, I've been busy during the lockdown changing production schedules and such, and I'm finally able to write a blog now. I'm still busy though. Lol
Even though we were in lockdown, I spent my time working online from home.
The final lockdown ended on February 23rd, and I'm glad that the factory can finally return to normal business.
So, in this blog I would like to introduce to you all how we are spending our time during lockdown and the current daily life in the workshop!
table of contents
- Current situation of coronavirus in Mongolia
- How to spend your time during lockdown
- What does the factory look like now?
- lastly!
Current situation of coronavirus in Mongolia
Hashtag's factory is located in Ulaanbaatar (the capital of Mongolia).
Mongolia has a population of about 3 million, with half of that population (about 1.5 million) living in the city of Ulaanbaatar.
Due to the large number of people gathering here, this is also the area in Mongolia where the coronavirus infection is most widespread.
The first case of COVID-19 infection was discovered in Mongolia in October 2020. Over the next four months, the country has been under lockdown three times.
The rules to be followed during the lockdown were announced on the news on February 10th. The lockdown didn't start until the 11th, so the announcement was just before the deadline. Lol
It's annoying that Mongolia often announces things at the last minute like this! lol
How to spend your time during lockdown
I would like to talk about how I am spending my time during the lockdown, but before that I would like to add a few more details about the lockdown in Ulaanbaatar.
This is the third lockdown, but it has been much stricter than the first and second ones.
Working from home was the norm and going out was basically prohibited.
Only employees of designated companies were allowed to travel, and everyone else was restricted from traveling except to the supermarket nearest their home.
So I ended up spending 12 days working from home.
The photo was taken at 1pm on Valentine's Day (February 14th). I was surprised to see that everyone was staying at home and not going out.
On weekdays, office members met on ZOOM every morning from 9:30.
I usually work until 6pm.
The rest of the time I spent it going to the supermarket (because there was nowhere else to go lol), reading books, and doing housework.
During the lockdown, I used the dining room as my workplace.
What does the factory look like now?
As this was our third lockdown, I have gotten used to it surprisingly well and am now able to think about precautions that we should take before and after the lockdown.
I've just returned to work at the factory after two weeks away, so it's a bit hectic, but I'm used to being busy because there are all kinds of problems that arise on a regular basis.
As a measure during the lockdown, any items in the process of being produced were covered in plastic sheets to keep them in good condition .
First thing in the morning after the lockdown ended, the entire factory was disinfected for COVID-19. Disinfection was an absolute necessity as instructed by the ward office.
Now, the factory and the town atmosphere are back to normal.
We are working hard to ensure production proceeds according to schedule.
We are currently in the middle of production for February's supply, and are preparing to ship in March .
We are inspecting the bags produced in February.
Recently, the number of craftsmen who can sew without any prior experience has been gradually increasing. I'm so happy!
While introducing the daily life at the factory, we also took a video of the actual manufacturing process.
lastly
Although there was a lot of talk about the lockdown, I wanted to reassure people that production was still going smoothly and that we were able to ship products, so there was nothing to worry about.
I'm glad the town is back to normal again.
Even when there was no lockdown, many businesses had restrictions on their operations.
Currently, most businesses other than schools are able to operate under special rules.
Our production volume has increased, and our craftsmen and the factory as a whole have grown, so we would like to work hard towards this year's goals.
Thank you for reading to the end.
Thank you for your support this year as well!
HushTug
Hariuna