Meituan deliverymen take a break along a road in Beijing on Tuesday. Shares of the Beijing-based food delivery giant ended up 10.41 percent in the Hong Kong market on Tuesday, making it the country's third-largest internet firm by market capitalization, following Alibaba and Tencent. Photo: cnsphoto

Beijing on Monday required nucleic acid certificates from within 14 days for food operation entities and service industry practitioners to curb the resurgence of COVID-19 in the capital.

Tang Yunhua, deputy secretary of Beijing's Market Regulation Bureau, announced at a press conference that people working at beauty salons and food operation entities including restaurants, dining halls, bars and supermarkets must hold negative nucleic acid certificates from within the last 14 days. 

The same requirement was also implemented on those serving as package and food delivery men, security guards and housekeepers. It means they need to undergo nucleic acid testing every two weeks.

According to the local health commission, Beijing's Changping district reported another new case on Monday, who was detected after a nine-day staying at a quarantine center. The capital has so far reported 31 confirmed local cases.

Beijing conducted sweeping nucleic acid tests on more than 103,000 package and food delivery men in June 2020 to reduce infection risks in the capital. 

According to statistics published by Beijing's Market Regulation Bureau in February 2020, Beijing's food delivery industry has around 20,000 workers around the city.

Global times