Cross-border truckers subject to new COVID rule

All cross-border truck drivers will be required to take a second nucleic acid test at checkpoints after showing 72-hour negative results upon arrival in Guangdong province during the Spring Festival travel rush, starting on Jan 28.

The moves aims to prevent COVID-19 from entering and spreading in the province, after some cross-border drivers were identified as confirmed cases or asymptomatic carriers in Shenzhen and Dongguan in previous weeks, Shen Ying, deputy director of Guangzhou City Bureau of Transportation, said on Monday at a news conference in Guangzhou.

Currently, more than half of cross-border truck drivers are required to undergo nucleic acid test spot checks, Shen said.

But the sporadic outbreak of the coronavirus among cross-border truck drivers is controllable after effective and concrete measures have been introduced, Shen said.

Shen said her bureau has established a special task force to focus on COVID-19 prevention and control among cross-border truck drivers.

After crossing the border and entering Guangdong province, all drivers are required to strictly abide by relevant COVID-19 prevention and control regulations and the rules of the province. They must strictly follow the closed-loop management on transportation routes, she said.

Special restrooms have been set up in the service areas of highways and at loading and unloading facilities, she said.

All the cross-border truck drivers from Guangzhou have been vaccinated, she said.

Meanwhile all front-line transportation staff working in the city's airport, railway stations, metro stations, bus terminals, ports, harbors and bus and taxi companies will have received coronavirus vaccines before the end of this month, Shen said.

She said more than 26,000 front-line staff had been vaccinated as of Sunday.

Shen said 26.26 million passengers will leave Guangzhou for home and sightseeing, and another 24.64 million will arrive in the southern metropolis during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush period, which will last until March 8. More than 172 million people will travel during the Spring Festival travel rush period in Guangdong, she said.

Zhang Zhoubin,deputy director of Guangzhou Center of Disease Prevention and Control, said more than 194,000 residents in Guangzhou have received coronavirus vaccines so far.