Tea pickers are seen in a tea garden in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: huzhoufabu]

The output value of the tea industry in Huzhou is forecasted to reach 5.6 billion yuan ($861.54 million) this year, according to local authorities.

Starting from March 17, harvest season will begin for tea gardens covering a total area of 423,700 mu (28,246.6 hectares) in the city in East China's Zhejiang province.

Nearly 430,000 tea pickers are expected to help with the harvest, and some 294,000 workers from places including Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong have arrived in Huzhou to lend a hand.

The harvest season is taking place amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, and the local government has rolled out a string of measures including stepping up nucleic acid tests to prevent the tea harvest from causing a resurgence of the virus.

Thousands of tea pickers have been transported to Miaoxi town in Huzhou's Wuxing district on chartered buses every day, said Jiang Yiping, a local official.

A makeshift site has been erected in Yuanxiangxiaozhen, a scenic attraction in Miaoxi, to offer around-the-clock check-up services for those coming from outside Zhejiang.

According to Ni Jingtao, general manager of Deqing Shuangfeng Tea Industry Co Ltd, the tea's overall growth has been good despite the colder weather.

He said that efforts made by authorities to control the epidemic assured him that it would not impact the tea harvest.

Freshly harvested tea in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account: huzhoufabu]

A tea picker undergoes a nucleic acid test in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/WeChat account:huzhoufabu]