(Yicai Global) March 30 -- Community workers in Shanghai have been taking measures to help elderly people living alone, following a two-staged lockdown in the city aimed at curbing the resurgence of Covid-19.

For some seniors, it is hard to buy medicine and food online because they do know how to use a smartphone or computer. Xu Tao, a community worker, told Yicai Global that the elderly may need to take up to a dozen different kinds of medication a day. It is now down to community workers to deliver them after consulting with local doctors.

The community lockdowns are also affecting food deliveries. Community staffers have been making sure that food is provided, as well as necessities such as vegetables and fruit.

Family members of elderly people are in touch with community health managers every day to try to sort out issues the elderly meet. “There is always a way to solve the problems,” Xu said.

The issue has not escaped the notice of companies, including shopping platform OCJ.Com, which is trying to provide services that the elderly can use, Zheng Yueqi, assistant to the firm’s president, told Yicai Global. It accepts cash on delivery, as some elderly people do not use mobile payment apps like WeChat or Alipay.

Shanghai has the highest share of elderly people among China’s large cities, with 5.3 million aged 60 or more, accounting for just over 36 percent of the total population, as of Dec. 31, 2020. Those aged 70 and above number 2.3 million, making up 15.8 percent of the total, according to data in the public domain.

Editor: Tom Litting