(Yicai Global) April 1 -- Deliverymen across Shanghai have been carrying on their work tenaciously despite the city being in a phased lockdown to control the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

Gan Chengcheng, the head of an express delivery outlet in Shanghai, took Yicai Global along on his daily routine amid the lockdown implemented on March 28.

Gan decided not to hire new staff during this period so as not to put them in harms way, but as a result he needs to do most of the work by himself, from unloading, sorting, disinfecting and delivering parcels to even buying vegetables for local residents.

The city’s deliverymen have to take a Covid-19 test every day, if they want to continue working during the lockdown period.

Gan said the delivery staff he knows sleep in office rooms, conference rooms, on sofas, and in trucks. “They do not want to go back home because they are afraid they will remain stuck in quarantine and be unable to come to work and deliver parcels normally.”

At 6.00 a.m., trucks filled with express parcels arrive at Gan’s outlet. The daily load is between 7,000 to 8,000 packages recently.

After an hour, Gan and other staff members unload the parcels and move them on a conveyor belt, ready to be sorted and disinfected.

Once parcels are sorted and ready to be shipped out of the warehouse, Gan can load some on his electric motorbike, hit the city’s empty streets, and deliver the items to neighboring communities.

Most of the communities have volunteers to sort out parcels, but some do not, so Gan carefully arranges the boxes at the entrance so that residents can pick them up.

At lunchtime, Gan returns to his outlet and bolts down his meal while standing up.

After lunch, Gan repeats the process. The second round of trucks arrives and the workers start unloading, sorting, delivering, and disposing of packages. In the afternoon, Gan will deliver boxes and pick up, pack, and transport new parcels to headquarters.

At midnight, when almost all the parcels have been delivered, Gan can go to sleep on the office sofa.

Editor: Futura Costaglione