Private cars in Tangshan city, North China's Hebei province, have taken up a role as free taxis to provide rides to local medical staff, since the city's public transport was halted last month to lower the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus.

Li Baoshan, 53, one of more than 80 volunteers, started his car on the evening of Feb 4 to pick up a medical worker at Tanshan No 3 Hospital in Guye district, a designated hospital for receiving infected patients.

The two made an appointment in advance through WeChat, a popular social media platform, with Li picking up the worker from the hospital and taking him home, for free.

"Medical staff are fighting on the front lines which is tiring and dangerous, and we residents would like to do everything possible to help them solve other problems," Li said.

According to the city government's official WeChat account, all buses in the city stopped running on Jan 28 as a measure to cut down transmission of the novel coronavirus.

This has caused difficulties for some medical workers, who need to go to work and return home after work by bus.

To help solve the issue, many residents started to offer free transport with private cars. As of now, more than 80 car owners have joined in the voluntary service.

With the help of the local government and hospitals, drivers and medical staff are organized in the WeChat group, where they can make appointments.

To make sure the journey is safe for both parties, local hospitals have provided the private cars with free facial masks, disinfectant and other materials for preventing infection.