Medical observation to be checked online

Individuals can now check online so see if their medical observation has ended, the Shanghai government said on Thursday.

People who have had close contact with infected or suspected patients, and those who have traveled from the hardest-hit areas such as Wuhan and Hubei Province are required to be placed under medical observation for 14 days as a prevention and control measure to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Using names and ID card numbers, individuals and their employers can go to the government service platform (http://zwdt.sh.gov.cn/govPortals/index.do) and a health app (Jian Kang Yun) to check the status of medical observation and when it is over,” Zheng Jin, a spokeswoman for the Shanghai Health Commission, told a news conference.

Another new service on the platforms is for enterprises, which have or plan to resume operations, to register information about employees, who have or will return to work.

Zhu Zongyao, director of the Shanghai Big Data Center, told the conference that the work resumption registration is based on the city’s big data platform and interconnected with Jian Kang Yun, so information can be shared automatically, thus saving employers time to fill out the forms.

People who entered Shanghai must register at Jian Kang Yun to track potential coronavirus patients.

The one-stop online government service system has included 2,280 public services, of which 25 are relevant to the new virus, covering health registration of people  returning to Shanghai, the whereabouts of confirmed patients and online doctor consultation.

The Shanghai government is promoting the system to avoid gatherings of people with the aim of reducing the risk of infection. “From February 3 to 12, the platform has handled 128,000 services, down 77.65 percent compared to the same period last year,” according to Zhu.