Takeout and express deliverers rush from one street to another in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in recent days. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Takeout and express deliverers are contributing greatly to ensuring a normal life for local residents in Zhejiang province during the novel coronavirus breakout, thanks to their hard work.

"I'm in charge of takeout deliveries from Lianhua Street to Wenyi West Road in Xihu district, Hangzhou," said Yang Ming, a takeout deliverer from Ele.me online takeout platform. "Since most restaurants are not open, the orders are mainly from vegetable markets, supermarkets and groceries."

Yang said he had sent out around 30 orders every day since the Spring Festival, especially in the morning when people are preparing for lunch. Sometimes he had to go to several supermarkets to get all the items in some orders.

"Previously, the orders focused mainly on desserts and tea but now most are for vegetables and drugs," said a manager from the platform.

Delivery people have adopted a "no-touch delivery" method because of the epidemic. Meituan, another online takeout platform, initiated the service in 184 cities throughout the country Jan 27.

The special method requires deliverers to put orders in designated places in each community or places specified by customers to avoid face-to-face contact.

In addition, many post offices in the province have helped local schools to send textbooks to each student as schools are using online teaching for the time being.

However, labor shortages are still a problem. "Only 20 percent of our employees were working during the Spring Festival," said Zhu Zhiyong, a manager at SF Express.

"Though we have submitted the application to resume work, it takes some time for employees from other places to return," said a manager from another express company.

Four express delivery companies in Zhejiang resumed work Feb 3 and 10 others did so Feb 10.