Hong Kong (CNN Business) China is struggling to return to work after the coronavirus outbreak shut down large swaths of the world's second biggest economy for more than two weeks.

Worker shortages, transport disruption, a lack of medical supplies and heavy-handed local officials are all making life difficult for businesses, the Chinese government said Tuesday.

"We have also noticed difficulties in fully resuming work," Cong Liang, a senior official at China's National Development and Reform Commission told reporters in Beijing, listing several factors including supply chain disruption, local government restrictions and a shortage of facial masks.

Senior officials in Beijing were speaking to reporters a day after an extended public holiday ended for much of the country, leading some businesses to try to reopen their doors . Others, though, remain closed, and local governments have issued mixed — and in some cases muddled — guidance about what companies should be doing.

One city made national headlines after police detained a manager at a textile mill for requiring employees to return to work February 1. The director of the company, in the eastern city of Nantong, was held by police for five days after he breached local rules that called for businesses to suspend work until February 10, according to state media. The man reportedly told police he was just trying to finish orders for clients.

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