Shenzhen, Guangdong province, has reserved more than 500 truck drivers to work at cross-border transfer truck stations in the city, a senior transportation official said. 

"The truck drivers are ready to operate the trucks at cross-border transfer stations where closed-loop management has been implemented when needed, in order to help curb the spread of the coronavirus in the city, Xu Wei, deputy director of the Shenzhen Transportation Bureau, said at a news conference on Monday.

The move aims to ensure that meat, vegetables and related anti-pandemic materials are adequate for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which is being hit by an outbreak of COVID-19.

It's also part of the fight against imported cases, Xu said.

"Shenzhen has now established 13 transfer stations for cross-border trucks from Hong Kong in its exit and entry ports to ensure smooth and successful operations between the two cities," he said.

The transfer stations have been equipped with seats, televisions, boiled water, instant noodles, medicines and disinfectants to give drivers from Hong Kong a rest.

The drivers from Shenzhen will take trucks involved in cross-border shipments loading and unloading areas.

To prevent the spread of imported COVID-19 in Shenzhen from outside, the city's health authorities issued a notice on Sunday requiring that all cross-border truck drivers from outside the mainland show negative results of nucleic acid testing done within 24 hours and take two acid tests when they enter Shenzhen for the first time every day, starting on Tuesday.

Meanwhile the drivers are required to stay in the designated areas and be tested daily after their arrival in Shenzhen. No one may enter local communities or public areas, the notice said.

Anyone found positive upon arrival in Shenzhen or classified as a close contact or secondary contact by mainland health authorities will be barred from the city for three weeks, it said.Shenzhen reported 36 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases for Sunday, with 30 confirmed cases and six asymptomatic carriers, the city's health commission said.

All were found among the close contacts of previously confirmed cases. Key groups and have been quarantined, said Lin Hancheng, an inspector from the commission.