Angela Lang/CNET

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With people staying home due to the coronavirus outbreak, Uber Eats is trying to help keep local restaurants in business by waiving delivery fees across across the US and Canada.

"We will also launch daily dedicated, targeted marketing campaigns -- both in-app and via email -- to promote delivery from local restaurants, especially those that are new to the app," the online food ordering platform said Monday in a release.

The company is also letting restaurants pay it daily, instead of the current weekly cycle.

A competitor, Seamless, emailed customers over the weekend to say it's deferring commission fees for independent restaurants.

The new strain of coronavirus, which can develop into a respiratory illness known as COVID-19, was discovered in Wuhan, China, in December. It's now infected more than 170,000 people and caused more than 6,500 deaths globally.

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