Health QR code made available to more residents

Shanghai will allow foreign citizens and those from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan to apply for a health QR code to help track the current epidemic situation.

The city’s official Health QR Code, which allows residents to make health declarations, has been accessed by individuals and businesses more than 47 million times since its launch on February 17.

Those who have already completed identity verification by Alipay can apply directly for a health code after submitting their health situation online. Residents in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau can also register through Suishenban's app.

The use of the code has been picking up steadily, said Zhu Zongyao, director of the Shanghai Big Data Center.

The city is also working with neighboring cities for the code to be used across the Yangtze River Delta region, he added. 

The citywide health code was launched to assess individuals for self-quarantine based on basic health information and travel history.

The Health QR Code is available on the city's health care Cloud and Suishenban apps or through WeChat and Alipay.

The QR code will be expanded to cover more office buildings, factory sites, technology parks and administration service centers at all levels as well as all public spaces so there would be no need for extra paperwork.

Altogether 880,000 items and cases have been handled through the one-stop online portal since February 10, over 53 percent of all administrative items. 

Five local manufacturers for medical supplies have received business permits and quality assurance certificates through an expedited mechanism by the food and drug administration. 

The online portal includes 2,300 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.

An integrated dashboard has been offered for over 50,000 companies to help them keep track of the health conditions of employees and visitors.

Relevant rules and policies have been provided through the portal to 14.6 million registered users including 2 million corporate users.