(Yicai Global) April 6 -- As demand for groceries jumped in Shanghai during the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown, a delivery employee at online retailer Dingdong Maicai set a new personal work record.

Zhao Yan at Dingdong Maicai said he delivered more than 4,000 orders last month, the biggest number since he entered the sector three years ago.

China's most populous city began its partial lockdown on March 28 and expanded it to other areas later to test all of the 25 million residents for Covid-19, twice. Residents have been having a hard time booking appointments with online grocery platforms due to the soaring demand and limited delivery staff.

The number of orders doubled after the resurgence of the pandemic in Shanghai, with more than 400 orders delivered on the busiest day, said Zhao. He recharged his electric scooter battery more than 30 times that day.

The orders got heavier. Customers purchased a lot of food for daily meals, Zhao said. Many residents are stockpiling so they buy more varieties of food in larger quantities, he added.

Delivery workers are not allowed to enter or leave some communities in Shanghai due to the pandemic, said Zhao. Before going to work, each employee needs to show their gate pass that is specific to the community where they live and their nucleic acid test result, he added.

At 5 a.m., Zhao starts working, leaving the temporary accommodation that the employer has arranged. He used to go to work at 7 a.m. but "to improve delivery efficiency, we take the initiative to help sorting."

After sorting the goods, Zhao gets on his scooter. It takes about an hour to deliver a batch of orders. Then he returns to the station to get some more. He needs to do about 20 rounds over the course of the day, picking up from 10 to 40 orders per time.

Zhao comes back to the service station to have lunch with his colleagues around noon. The company has recently been providing the staff with food and daily necessities, according to him.

Zhao lives in a hotel so he has not seen his family for about a month. He makes video calls with his family members during mealtime.

Zhao and his colleagues finish work at 11 p.m., three hours later than usual. Not all of them have the energy to go to the hotel. "Many of us bring quilts to the station. Sometimes, four to five delivery guys sleep at the station," Zhao said, adding that once more than 10 of them stayed overnight.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi