BEIJING — China's courier industry is working overtime during the holiday period to ensure the supply of medical materials and life necessities as the country fights the novel coronavirus outbreak, an industry official told a press conference on Jan 30.

The city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, has seen the smooth operation of express deliveries, with 837,000 parcels delivered to and 1.03 million sent out from the city during the past week, said Hou Yanbo, a senior official with China's State Post Bureau.

Noting that couriers are working under tremendous stress in Wuhan, Hou called on the public to avoid sending parcels out from or into the city unless necessary so that more courier resources could be used to serve the prevention and control of the epidemic.

Hou also dismissed concerns over the safety of parcels sent from Wuhan.

"Medical experts have noted that the coronavirus is mainly transmitted through air droplets or close contact with infected patients," Hou said. "So the risk of transmission through express parcels is very low."

Hou said his bureau has ordered postal and courier firms to step up their disinfection and ventilation measures, and people should still wash their hands after receiving express parcels.