Opinion | The unexpected heroes in virus fight 疫情中的凡人英雄
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MEDICAL workers have been in the spotlight in the race against time to save COVID-19 patients in China and other parts of the world. But another group of people, couriers and delivery drivers, do not play a role as critical as doctors and nurses in saving lives but are still essential in the fight against the coronavirus as people stay home to curb the spread of the virus.
Some of them have even made cover stories. Gao Zhixiao, a delivery driver for delivery giant Meituan, featured on one of the covers of Time magazine’s special coronavirus issue.
A potrayal photo of Chinese food deliveryman Gao Zhixiao is featured on one of the covers of Time magazine’s special coronavirus issue.
Gao is one of about 3 million motorcycle delivery drivers who played an indispensable role of filling the stomachs of the hundreds of millions of people isolated at home and delivering vital medicines to the elderly and sick as much of the country was placed under an unprecedented lockdown.
Some others have earned a hero-like status. Wang Yong, a staff member of SF Express in Wuhan, has been recognized by Chinese media for volunteering to drive medical workers who, without his help, would have had to walk for up to three hours to return home because no public transport was available.
Wang Yong
“With my service as a driver, a medical worker can save about four hours a day on average. That’s 400 hours if I serve 100 medical workers a day. They can save a lot of lives in 400 hours!” he told Xinmin Weekly. Wang said that at first his legs were constantly shaky as he was gripped by fear over contracting the virus every time he drove a nurse or doctor to a hospital or home, but he eventually overcame his fears and carried on.
Knowing his own effort would not be enough, Wang also ran a massive network of volunteers who he organized to help medical personnel go to work, return home and order food.
Wang poses for a photo in a protective suit. Xinhua
Most delivery workers may not have gone as far as Wang in volunteering to help others, but they have emerged as a lifeline for people observing quarantine or social distancing measures. “Stuck in my house, I feel really desperate. But seeing delivery riders outside my window gives me some hope,” Time quoted one user as saying on the Twitter-like Weibo.
Some people lavished delivery drivers with tips, while others sent them thank-you messages.
Whether they do it just to make a living, for the lofty goal of helping people in need or both, couriers and delivery drivers risk being infected to help people win the battle against an invisible enemy. Their service has become an indispensable part of our life and probably will remain so even after the virus is eliminated.
Li Jie, a deliveryman with ZTO, contacts a customer by cellphone in Beijing on March 12. Xinhua
This is also true in other parts of the world. “It seems to me that this crisis has forced us to rethink our social hierarchy in radical ways. The people treated as invisible, as doing unimportant work, are now the most essential workers in America. Our lifelines are the grocery clerks, food delivery drivers, mail carriers,” Nikole Hannah-Jones, an investigative reporter with the New York Times Magazine, wrote in a tweet.
Life is not easy for these hard-working people. Takeout delivery riders in Shenzhen usually earn 5-10 yuan (US$0.7-1.4) an order but will be fined 20-50 yuan or even higher for a negative review or for failing to deliver on time. At some delivery companies, a complaint from a buyer will result in a fine of 200 yuan. The draconian rules over timeliness have forced some riders to break traffic rules, thus putting their own lives at risk. The epidemic offers us a chance to reflect on whether delivery workers have been treated unfairly.
We should not hesitate to say “thank you” and even give a tip if we are satisfied with the delivery service. We should under no circumstances treat them as society’s underdogs that deserve low pay and disrespect. Their income needs to be increased steadily in line with the rise of average salaries and living costs in the city. A city that rewards entrepreneurs and tech researchers generously should not be harsh to those who do seemingly unimportant but essential jobs.
The author is a deputy editor-in-chief of Shenzhen Daily.
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