SHANGHAI will steadily restore the city’s public transport system step by step, and it will likely resume cross-district public transport starting from May 22, said a press conference on epidemic prevention and control held Thursday.

Transport service on some main subway lines and 273 bus routes will first resume covering the central urban areas and the city’s airports, railway stations and hospitals.

Meanwhile, authorities are studying the recovery plan for private cars and taxis.

Shanghai will set up facilities at transport stations and carriages to help scan QR codes to prevent the spread of the epidemic through public transport. Passengers will be allowed to use the public transport system only when they have negative result certificates for nucleic acid testing taken within 48 hours.

In addition, the daily parcel collection and delivery volume in Shanghai has reached more than 4.6 million, one-fifth of usual levels, said Feng Lihu, director of the Shanghai Postal Administration, at a press briefing Thursday.

A total of 20 sorting centers of both domestic and foreign postal and express delivery service enterprises have resumed operations in Shanghai, Feng said. Another eight sorting centers will resume operations soon, meaning that one-third of such sorting centers in the city will be operational.

Moreover, 580 branches and outlets of these companies have restored business operations and the number of frontline couriers and workers returning to work has risen to nearly 20,000, he said.

“We forecast that by early and mid-June, all sorting and processing centers, branches of business outlets of postal and express delivery companies will resume operations,” said Feng.

“It’s expected that the postal and express delivery companies will realize full resumption of personal delivery services in early June,” he said.

Shanghai reported 82 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 637 local asymptomatic cases Wednesday. (Xinhua)