A worker handles an express package at a transfer center of SF Express in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province on December 21. Photo: cnsphoto

SF Express said Monday that a part-time worker who tested positive for COVID-19 had not touched any parcels amid public concern over whether the coronavirus could be transmitted on packaging.  

SF Express was quoted as saying by media that the employee, a 32-year-old woman surnamed Wang, is a forklift operator and she had not touch any parcels. 

SF Express said they have disinfected and collected samples from the area where Wang was working, and there were no abnormal results.  

They noted that they had conducted and would continue all necessary measures to prevent virus transmission through parcel packages.  

Wang, a resident of Beijing's Shunyi district, tested positive for the coronavirus Saturday, as the district continued mass testing of local residents throughout the weekend and enforced several community lockdowns. 

She worked part-time at an SF Express transit depot on December 18 and from December 21-24, a Beijing health official said at a press conference on Sunday. 

Wang was identified as a close contact of another confirmed COVID-19 patient on Friday, when she was tested.

Wang had taken taxis and buses and shopped at supermarkets over the past 14 days, the local authority announced Sunday.

Wang's case caused concern on Chinese social media with some people saying that they had received parcels from the depot where she worked and were worried that packages they had received had been contaminated with the coronavirus. Chinese experts have warned that the virus could be transmitted on packaging due to the low temperature. 

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Shunyi district reported Wang has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Shunyi district confirmed five new cases and an asymptomatic case on Saturday, according to a local health official. All of them are receiving treatment at Ditan Hospital.