Yang Lan, a nurse from Wuhan Tongji Hospital, prepares to get into a car driven by He Mingrong, from Didi Chuxing. (WANG JING / CHINA DAILY)

When the authorities in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province and epicenter of the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak, announced a lockdown of the city on Jan 23, thousands of outsiders decided to leave.

However, Wang Li, a woman from Deyang, Sichuan province, chose to remain.

The 29-year-old became one of the volunteers braving the risk of infection to offer free rides to medical workers after public transportation in the city was suspended.

Wang, a driver for car-hailing platform Didi Chuxing, had planned to go to her hometown during Spring Festival to visit her mother.

On Jan 23, she learned that Didi Chuxing was recruiting volunteers to provide free transportation for medical workers and residential communities in the city. Wang immediately offered her services

However, when she heard the city was to be locked down and public transportation suspended, she realized that "something big" had happened, so she decided to stay.

On Jan 23, she learned that Didi Chuxing was recruiting volunteers to provide free transportation for medical workers and residential communities in the city. Wang immediately offered her services.

She said she wanted to help people in need at such a difficult time. In 2008, she experienced the Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan, when she was a high school student. She saw how people nationwide rallied to help those in her hometown after the disaster.

Wang said the quake claimed more than 240 students' lives at her school when buildings collapsed, but she survived and was helped by a number of people. "Now, it's my turn to lend a hand to others in need," she added.

The lockdown in Wuhan was imposed after the number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus pneumonia nationwide rose to 291 on Jan 20, including 270 in Hubei. Wuhan, the provincial capital, was the hardest-hit city.

On that day, respiratory scientist Zhong Nanshan told the media there was a risk of person-to-person transmission from the contagion.

Also on Jan 20, President Xi Jinping instructed that all-out efforts be made to curb the spread of the epidemic.

The lockdown in Wuhan, the biggest transportation hub in Central China, was imposed in an effort to restrict people's movements in order to contain the epidemic, as the Lunar New Year holiday traditionally heralds massive movements of people nationwide.

Wang said: "As public transportation was suspended, how would those who had become infected go to a hospital, and how would medics get to work to save patients? I thought about these issues on Jan 23, and that's why I chose to work as a transportation volunteer."

More than 200 drivers have been organized to provide services for medical workers at 16 hospitals in the city

Zeng Hongbo, a manager at Didi Chuxing who is helping to organize volunteers, said the company had seen that many medical workers had tried to seek assistance with transportation online after the lockdown was imposed. It contacted the authorities in Wuhan and offered to organize volunteer drivers to provide free services to those in need during the epidemic.

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More than 200 drivers have been organized to provide services for medical workers at 16 hospitals in the city, while over 1,300 others have been sent to communities to provide transportation support, Zeng said.

Wang was sent to a community of more than 2,000 residents in Wuchang district. She is responsible for picking up workers whose journeys are essential and also for transporting medical supplies and other materials needed by the community.

"Usually, I give rides to seniors with chronic illnesses so they can be treated at the hospital," Wang said. "Sometimes, I also help the neighborhood committee transport materials needed for epidemic prevention and control."

She said that a few days ago, she drove a woman in her 70s who has kidney failure to her regular dialysis session, but the woman refused Wang's offer of help to walk into the hospital. "She told me she was worried I might run the risk of becoming infected. Her words moved me greatly," Wang said.

Spring Festival is traditionally a time for Wang to reunite with her mother in their hometown, but not this year.

"I didn't tell her about the volunteer work at the very beginning, but she learned about it from a media report. I played down the epidemic so that she would not worry too much, and comforted her by explaining that I take all the necessary protective measures," she said.

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Asked whether she is afraid of the outbreak, Wang said that compared with the earthquake in 2008, the disease is "nothing big, because scientific prevention and protection will help avoid infection".

"I don't worry about it. I love this beautiful city and I want to stay here. I want to contribute to its development," she said.

Yang Lan, a nurse at Wuhan Tongji Hospital, experienced difficulties traveling between her home and the hospital after public transportation was suspended. The hospital provides shuttle buses on different routes for its employees, but Yang said there is no route between her home and work, a distance of 10 kilometers.

"Thanks to the volunteer drivers from Didi Chuxing, I can travel easily," she said. "What has touched me the most is that I need to go to the hospital from home at 7:30 am, and I see from the mobile app that the drivers always come 10 to 20 minutes early. They help me a lot."

He Mingrong is one of the few women drivers on a team of volunteers providing free rides for medical workers in Wuhan. (WANG JING / CHINA DAILY)

With all car-hailing platforms halted in Wuhan, technicians from Didi Chuxing spent about 30 hours developing a program to allow more than 8,600 medical workers from 16 hospitals to use the company's app to access dedicated transportation services, Zeng said. "We want to make our contribution to the battle against the epidemic," he added.

He Mingrong, 49, from Korla, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, is one of the few women drivers in a team of volunteers providing free rides for medical workers.

After her son started studies at Wuhan University of Engineering Science in 2018, He moved to Wuhan and became a full-time driver with Didi Chuxing in February last year.

She said she loves the city, which is full of vitality, and particularly likes driving a car and enjoying the views. "But suddenly, the city came to a standstill and everything changed because of the outbreak."

Her son returned to their hometown at the start of the winter vacation in mid-January. The mother had also planned to go back to Korla before Spring Festival, but as Wuhan was locked down before she could leave, she stayed.

She joined the Didi Chuxing volunteer team on Jan 23, which gave her the chance to chat to medics working on the front-line.

To avoid becoming a mobile source of infection, He wears protective clothing when she works and also sprays disinfectant in the car after every trip.

"I am moved every day by the doctors and nurses using my car," she said. "They always express their gratitude to me for the service I provide at such a difficult time, but I think that they are the ones we should say 'thank you' to. They are the true heroes."

She said that a middle-aged doctor from Wuhan Tongji Hospital who used her service a week ago had made a great impression on her. "The doctor told me that when soldiers fight on a battlefield the enemy is visible. But in an epidemic, an invisible virus rages, so doctors and nurses are naturally the fighters," she said.

She added that the doctor's comments had made her more confident that the virus would be defeated and had also encouraged her to work as a volunteer until the fight has been won. "I serve the medics who fight the virus. I feel my work is meaningful," she said.

One nurse in her 20s, who cried in He's car, said she had worked round-the-clock and just wanted to have a good rest and a big dinner.

One nurse in her 20s, who cried in He's car, said she had worked round-the-clock and just wanted to have a good rest and a big dinner

"I comforted her and jokingly asked why she didn't give up the job if she felt so tired. But she just shook her head and said that patients need her," He said, adding that the nurse left her some face masks and reminded her to protect herself.

In view of the severe shortage of protective materials, the masks were "the most precious gifts" she had received, He said, adding, "Sometimes, I feel the relationship between myself and the medics using my car is far beyond that between a driver and a passenger."

She refers to the other volunteer drivers on her team as "brothers", and Feng Xiaobo from Xiaogan, Hubei, is one of them.

Feng, who also works as a full-time driver for Didi Chuxing in Wuhan, had returned to his hometown about 80 km from the city for a family reunion before the city was locked down. But when he heard that the company was organizing teams of volunteer drivers, he returned.

"Wuhan is sick now. Everybody living here should help it recover," Feng said.

He added that he had driven a young nurse working at Wuhan Union Hospital, where critically ill patients are treated.

"I asked her whether she was afraid of becoming infected by the virus, and she said she was and that some of her colleagues had been infected. However, she said she could not abandon her work," Feng said.

Thousands of people from across the country have joined in helping Wuhan fight the epidemic.

"When people from other areas come to help us, how can I just sit idle at home? Didi Chuxing offered me an opportunity to contribute to the fight against the epidemic," Feng said.

He believes the battle against the virus can be won soon, in view of the mass support and resources that have been provided.

Wang, from Deyang, and He, from Korla, agreed with Feng. Wang said she will return home to see her mother immediately after life in Wuhan returns to normal.

When the epidemic is under control, He said the first thing she wants to do is to throw away all face masks and say "hello" to everyone she meets.