Rainy Wukang Road at brunch time a far cry from usual bustle

Wukang Road is one of the popular leisure spots for expats living in Shanghai, famous as a place to meet over coffee or a bite to eat. 

What does Wukang Road look like recently during the novel coronavirus outbreak? Shanghai Daily went there on a rainy Saturday, right around brunch time, and found only two coffee shops open, each with just a few customers.

The coffee shop located at the inner side of Ferguson Lane welcomed its first customer around 10:30am today. “We lost over 80 percent of custom these days,” said the shop manager who preferred not to leave her name. “Normally we'd sell about 200 cups of coffee, sometimes over 500 cups a day on weekends, but now we sell no more than 100.”

A notice outside the shop says it only provide coffee to go.

According to a security guard who was there checking visitors’ temperature, there’s only one pizza restaurant and one hot pot restaurant open within Ferguson Lane, a square that's home to many restaurants and coffee shops.

During the government press conference this afternoon, Shanghai’s business authority said restaurants can open their dine-in service upon reaching the standards of epidemic prevention. A list of over 3,000 restaurants who can provide online take-out services was released during the conference, too.

Watch the video above to experience weekend brunch in Shanghai during the COVID-19 outbreak.