New York (CNN Business) Amid fears of the coronavirus, a growing number of food and grocery delivery services in the US are giving customers the option to have their orders left at their doorstep to avoid human interaction.

Instacart, the grocery delivery startup, rolled out a new feature call "Leave at My Door Delivery," which gives customers the option to have an order left by their door during a designated time frame instead of having an in-person hand-off.

The company said Thursday it had been testing the opt-in feature in recent months and decided to add the option for all customers now because of "increased demand" for it in recent days.

On-demand food delivery startup Postmates introduced a similar option on Friday. Meanwhile, grocery delivery service FreshDirect has a service alert on its website noting that its "delivery personnel will bring your order up to your door, but cannot enter your home at this time." (FreshDirect did not immediately respond to a request for comment on when this alert was added.)

As cases of coronavirus continue to rack up in the US, the workers who give rides and deliver groceries or restaurant orders for gig economy companies could be on the frontlines of the outbreak as people avoid public transportation and rely on home deliveries instead of frequenting restaurants and stores.

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