Fearing COVID-19 cases, lost profits and possible lockdowns, China¡¯s local governments and humming factories are offering a slew of incentives to persuade workers not to go home for the Lunar New Year holiday in February.

This period usually sees the majority of the country¡¯s 280 million rural migrant workers, as well as millions of white-collar workers who live far from home, travel back to see family.

The rapid coronavirus spread during last year¡¯s holidays, however, trapped many workers in their villages for months and forced them into long quarantines when they finally returned to the cities.