City delivers both nucleic acid samples and safety
This summer, Zhao Yong and his colleagues delivered more than 2.1 billion nucleic acid test samples in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, in two weeks.
On July 20, several cabin cleaners at the Nanjing Lukou International Airport tested positive for COVID-19. The government of Nanjing, which has a population of more than 9 million, immediately launched citywide nucleic acid tests to contain the spread of the virus.
Zhao, one of several deputy heads of the Nanjing Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement and Supervision Bureau of Transportation, said the samples had to be delivered to the labs within six hours of being taken.
“There are 2,747 sample swabbing centers in the city. After being collected, the samples were delivered to 107 transfer centers before being sent to 25 labs for testing,” he said. “It was a great challenge. We used professional monitoring equipment, cooperated with health departments and dispatched many vehicles to guarantee timely transportation.” During the first two rounds of testing, the samples were delivered to the labs directly. However, some labs received samples that exceeded their analytic capabilities and failed to yield test results in time. In response, the transportation bureau improved its delivery procedures.
That meant the samples were first sent to transfer centers, then delivered to labs that could begin analysis immediately.
All the boxes containing the samples were fitted with temperature control systems and GPS. If the trucks became stuck in traffic or a large number of samples flooded in from swabbing centers at the same time, the bureau sent motorcycle couriers or extra trucks to deliver the samples quickly.
The transportation bureau said that from late July to early August, it sent nearly 1,000 drivers and workers, and dispatched more than 300 refrigerated trucks to transport the samples.
“Many drivers and staff members worked day and night at sample swabbing and transfer centers, and they all wore protective clothing on hot summer days,” Zhao said. “Their hard work enabled the citywide testing efforts to progress extremely smoothly.”