Transportation officials in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, have promised to spare no efforts in ensuring safe and smooth traffic conditions during entrance examinations for postgraduates beginning on Saturday as the city's confirmed COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

In addition to providing enough bus services to and from testing venues, transportation officials have also prepared and organized special taxis and private vehicles to offer services to students living in closed-off residential communities if needed, said Li Binke, deputy director of the city's transportation bureau.

"We will all go out to bring students to and from exam venues and residences on time to ensure all of them are able to attend the special examinations taking place between Saturday and Monday," Li said at a news conference on Friday.

Meanwhile, all drivers with proof of negative nucleic acid test results performed within 48 hours have received special training in advance and they will wear protective clothing and face masks, Li said. All involved vehicles will be disinfected in advance.

According to the Education Examinations Authority of Shaanxi province, a total of 135,000 candidates are due to take the special exams at 34 testing venues in Xi'an this year.

The authority has also introduced measures to help ensure the exams go smoothly.

All students and examinees living in closed or controlled areas are required to have negative nucleic test results within 48 hours, twice, before being allowed to enter exam venues. Meanwhile, those living in other areas are also required to show negative nucleic acid tests conducted within the past 48 hours, said the authority in a notice issued on Friday.

Lyu Yongpeng, deputy director of the city's health commission, said Xi'an reported 49 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the city's total number of confirmed cases to 255 amid the current outbreak.

The newly reported cases include a child aged under three and two seniors over 60, Lyu said.

"All the patients are now in designated hospitals for treatment and relevant departments have organized special medical experts and doctors to carry out centralized treatment," he said.

More than 11.51 million residents have undergone nucleic acid testing after the city launched the third round of mass nucleic acid testing and screening beginning 8 am on Thursday, with 10.26 million results already documented, he said.

The city has organized more than 29,000 medical staff to conduct nucleic acid testing in 3,953 centers around the city, Lyu said.

He said Xi'an added 41 medium-risk areas starting Friday, and the city now has a total of 111 medium-risk areas, plus one high-risk one.

Wei Xiaoli, deputy director of the city's disease prevention and control center, said the strict measures to limit the flow of residents and seal off some of the medium and high-risk areas are needed to prevent and control the spread of the coronavirus.

"This latest outbreak is caused by imported Delta variant cases which are highly transmissible," Wei said.

The strict measures have helped prevent and control the spread of the coronavirus and ensure the health of residents, she added.

Zhang Fenghu, deputy secretary-general of the Xi'an city government, said grains, edible oils, vegetables, meat, eggs and milk are adequate and prices are stable.

Kang Ruoming in Xi'an contributed to this story.