Various businesses have been providing free meals, discounts and customized services to honor returning Shanghai medical workers, who helped with the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in Hubei province.

A total of 1,649 medical workers have been sent from Shanghai to Hubei province since the start of the outbreak. The first group returned to Shanghai on March 18, with every individual quarantined at CITIC Pacific Zhujiajiao Jin Jiang Hotel in Qingpu district.

Besides providing daily necessities to the medical workers, the hotel has also engaged the State banquet chefs of the Jin Jiang Hotels Group to prepare their meals.

The 14-day menu uploaded by netizens shows that dishes included in each five-course breakfast, lunch and dinner are hardly repeated. The dishes, which come from a variety of cuisines, include Shanghai fried fish, Cantonese soup, steaks and pastas, Thai tom yum soup as well as assorted fruits and seasonal vegetables. Even the egg dishes served at breakfast are prepared in 14 ways.

"We were excited when we were told that the medical team would stay in our hotel. In addition to providing logistics support, we also want to provide some personalized services to allow them to have a good rest both physically and mentally," Shanghai-based Jiefang Daily quoted hotel employee Luan Lei as saying.

More medical workers, who were sent to Wuhan, Hubei province, will soon return to Shanghai and will stay in six hotels located around Dianshan Lake in Qingpu district.

In addition, 61 catering brands in Shanghai have pledged to provide preferential rates and even hand out free products to medical staff as part of a campaign that was launched on March 18.

As part of this campaign, which was organized by dining we-media platform Zebra Magazine, Blanche, a French restaurant located on Wukang Road, says that it will provide a takeout package worth 500 yuan ($70.4) or a two-person afternoon tea experience worth 600 yuan to medical workers, who have a certificate proving that they were at the front lines in Hubei province.

"They have fought for us and we can't let them spend any more," says Jerome Tauvron, the owner of Blanche.

According to Tauvron, he would like to give back to these medical workers as much as he can even though the restaurant is undergoing tough times because of the ongoing epidemic.

The catering industry has been among the worst-hit by the outbreak. According to an investigation by Zebra Magazine, many catering businesses are still paying rent and labor costs even though they have earned just a fraction of their usual revenue in the past two months.

"The purpose of this initiative is to express our thanks to these medical workers, who have touched us, especially those who went to Hubei," says Yu Donghui from Zebra Magazine.

"The most touching thing is that many merchants are willing to participate in this event. There are still more merchants who want to be a part of this," he says.