'Venue code' scanning part of daily life for COVID-19 prevention
A Metro passenger scans her venue code at a local station.
Shanghai citizens are required to scan the "venue code" or get checks by the "digital sentry," or a comprehensive code scanning and temperature check machine, to enter or leave public venues and communities.
Some public sites will also require a 48-hour negative PCR test report, according to the city's big data center.
Foreign residents can apply for the Suishenma health code with their passport through the Suishenban app. It will take one workday for manual verification and approval. They can also bond their Chinese bank cards with Suishenban micro app on Alipay to get the code.
Shanghai will further promote the venue code and digital sentry machines across the public sites and residential compounds to enhance the COVID-19 prevention and control.
Apart from the emergency medical requirements, residents must show their green health code to enter or leave their communities, said Zhu Junwei, deputy director of the center.
Almost all local public venues and communities will put up the venue codes, which can check the identity, health information and latest PCR test result as well as record the trace of the visitors for epidemiological investigation during the COVID-19 resurgence.
Citizens are required to scan the code with Suishenban, Alipay or WeChat mobile apps before entering the sites or communities. After scanning, their health code and the name of the venue will be displayed on mobile phone with audio broadcast for security guards to inspect.
The "digital sentry" will display the health information, PCR and antigen reports and temperature.
Public places receiving a large number of visitors should deploy the digital sentry app, which can scan the health code or ID card of each visitor and check temperatures.
Those who cannot use mobile phone apps can use their ID card or paper-version health code for security staff to scan and verify.
Companies and communities without the venue code or digital sentry won't be allowed to resume work or apply to become a "pandemic-free community."
The personal information collected from the venue code and digital sentry will also be used for the epidemiological investigation for the COVID-19 prevention and control. No company or individual should use the data for other purposes, said Zhu.
The number of local infections dropped 10 percent to 558 on Sunday, with zero community infections.
Downtown Yangpu and Hongkou districts reported over 40 percent of the city's total positive cases in their locked-down areas and among people under quarantine.
Outlying Jinshan, Chongming and Fengxian reported zero infections on Sunday.
The city reported one COVID-19 death on Monday. The 93-year-old woman had severe underlying conditions and had not been vaccinated.
Over 3.7 million local seniors over 60 have been vaccinated, accounting for 64.5 percent of the city's total elderly population, said Zhao Dandan, deputy director of the Shanghai Health Commission.
Among them, about 2.3 million have taken a booster shot, nearly 40 percent of the total. Zhao said over 160 vaccine clinics across the city have resumed operations.
Meanwhile, Tian Jing, a doctor with Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention, asked not to spray disinfectants to humans or pets directly, which might cause pneumonia, skin condition or allergy.
Customers shop at a reopened Walmart supermarket.
