NE China city offers free nucleic acid tests for over 2,000 couriers

The city of Jilin in northeast China's Jilin Province has collected throat swab samples from 2,022 couriers to provide them with nucleic acid tests for free.

The municipal authorities said that the move is to further ensure the safety of online food delivery service.

The city had adopted a slew of stringent measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease, including suspending all coach and tourist charter bus services, after Shulan, a county-level city administered by the city of Jilin, reported multiple domestically transmitted COVID-19 cases earlier this month.

As residential areas and communities in the city have carried out strict quarantine measures, the demand for take-out food orders has soared.

"The food delivery service has contributed to the city's fight against the epidemic. It makes us feel safe that the government offered us nucleic acid tests," said Xu Hailong, a courier in the city.

As of Friday, the province had reported no newly confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases for six consecutive days.