On the fourth day of the Chinese New Year on Jan 28, a group of 120 volunteers gathered at Shenghui Plastic Packing Co Ltd in the Shanghai Hangzhou Bay Economic and Technical Development Park to undergo training before helping to pack face masks needed in the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Shanghai is currently facing a shortage of masks as stocks have been flying off the shelves and factories are unable to produce new ones quickly enough as most workers have returned to their hometowns for the Spring Festival.

In a bid to meet the massive demand for masks, the park's management on Jan 27 issued an emergency request in its WeChat working group to recruit volunteers to help with the packaging of masks. The 120-strong volunteer team was formed within a day.

"I have been sitting on a stool for four hours and continuously packing masks. I'm very tired and have a backache, but I'm so proud of our hard work," said one volunteer.

Other factories around the city have also restarted their operations early during this holiday period to cater to the demand for face masks. Meidikang, a Shanghai-based medical materials supply company in Songjiang district's Chedun Town, resumed operations for 11 of its production lines by the third day of the Chinese New Year, producing some 500,000 masks per day.

Wang Lihua, vice general manager of Meidikang, told Shanghai-based Xinmin Evening News that the company too has been relying on the help of volunteers during this period of manpower shortage. Since the eve of Chinese New Year on Jan 24, a team of volunteers comprising representatives from urban management, Party members and cadres from Chedun town in Songjiang district have been helping out with the production and packaging of masks at Meidikang.

Wang, who arrives at the factory at 7 am and returns home after 11 pm every day, told the Xinmin Evening News: "Although this Spring Festival has been difficult, the more masks we produce, the sooner people can get them."