According to Huang, the motorcade had about 170 drivers at one time, but now has about 90, many of them born in the 1980s.

"About 5,000 volunteer drivers in Wuhan overall did public service at the start, but now the number has shrunk to about 400, a major reason being that drivers are afraid of becoming infected with the virus, or their children and parents getting infected, as the virus is lethal for the elderly," he said.

"The biggest difficulty is getting protective gear and disinfectant for our drivers, to ensure safety. These are in short supply in the city. Another challenge is management of a big group of drivers, such as making sure that they obey the safety rules," he said.

Huang uses his social links and internet sources to find protective gear for the drivers and hospitals, and friends and netizens also make donations.

Huang said another problem is securing supplies before they are snapped up by others. In Wuhan, the price of a 500-milliliter bottle of alcohol disinfectant has risen from less than 9 yuan ($1.28) to 40 yuan.

When the outbreak is over, he wants to form the volunteer motorcade into a team to serve the public.

"I'm confident about the city's ability to recover, because its citizens fight hard," he said.

With the number of cases rising rapidly, Huang recently told the drivers to stay at home, but some are still transporting medical professionals or materials.