Health QR Code in China's Hangzhou Lends Steam to Safe, Orderly Work Resumption

HANGZHOU,China,March 7,2020 --Hangzhou launched a health QR code system on Feb. 9 as a regional "traffic permit" to ensure orderly population flow during an epidemic. The smart practice is gaining popularity across the country with over 200 cities promoting the health QR code system.

According to Hangzhou Municipal Government,the health QR code is the city's latest digital efforts to fight the epidemic. Based on related laws and rules,residents have to declare their conditions online via third-party platforms and government service apps. In turn,they will be assigned codes marked by green,yellow or red based on the information they offer. Only residents with a green code are allowed to move around the city freely. Those with a yellow and red codes must quarantine for certain days. Holders of yellow and red codes are required to log in every day during quarantine before their codes can turn green.

Such a health QR code helps ease public concerns over travel and acts as a trustworthy guarantee for residents' health during trips.

"Fundamentally speaking,health QR code is one of the most important ways from closed control to precise and smart management in the epidemic prevention and control. It's also a very important intellectual tool to facilitate the resumption of work and production," said Yu Jianxing,professor and dean of the School of Public Administration of Zhejiang University.

The health QR code can be used in production and daily life once declared,enabling scientific,accurate and efficient epidemic prevention and control as well as the safe resumption of work and production for enterprises.

Lisa from Belgium is an English teacher and is going to work in east China's economic hub Zhejiang Province this year. Lisa arrived in Beijing three weeks ago,but her trip to Zhejiang was delayed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Lisa came to Zhejiang on February 24,and upon her arrival at the Hangzhou East Railway Station,she applied for a green health QR code under the guidance of on-site staff. "I am going to meet a friend at the hotel and then go to school," she put that travel plan via the digital platform. Lisa is very happy to apply for the green QR code,which functions as a real-time proof of her health conditions. She hopes that the epidemic will end as soon as possible so that the school can resume classes in March.

In Hangzhou,people returning to work are subject to classified and targeted epidemic management and control,which cuts the approval procedures of enterprises and avoids the inconveniences brought by "one-size-fits-all" measures. Therefore,the speed of work resumption of enterprises is significantly accelerated. Data showed that about 94.9 percent of the city's enterprises are in normal operation,with 85.9 percent of their employees back to work by 18:00 on February 25.

On February 10,China's well-known silk enterprise Wensli Group was officially approved for work resumption. It is the standard action for all employees returning to work to show their green health QR code,take temperature and clock in their health conditions online daily. About 90 percent of the Zhejiang-based firm's employees have returned to work,with more than 1,000 employees with a green health QR code.

As a digital health assessment management measure empowered by big data,the health QR code is an effective permit for personal safe travel and a scientific tool for empowering epidemic prevention and control as well as economic development. The purpose is to make production and daily life resume as much as possible and in an orderly manner while ensuring effective epidemic prevention and control,according to a local official.

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