Using a hitchhiking service in Beijing, such as Uber or the local Didi Chuxing, will not be possible without scanning your health QR code, city officials said amid an increase in Covid-19 cases in neighboring Hebei province .
As of Monday, drivers will be able to deny services to those who refuse to show and scan their QR codes, the state newspaper Global Times reported.
The color-based health QR code system was introduced in Beijing and more than 100 other cities in February to help stem the spread of the coronavirus, which was first reported in Wuhan, China, more than a month earlier.
The application automatically generates a code for the user. AN ‘green’ one means that they roam freely in the capital, while ‘yellow’ and ‘red’ codes require self-isolation or supervised quarantine.
Also at rt.com
Alibaba joins pharmaceutical company Sinovac to create a platform for inoculating the coronavirus vaccine
Color codes are already part of daily life in Beijing, as they are necessary to enter restaurants and shopping malls and buy plane and train tickets, among other things. More than 29 million people signed up for the health code application, officials said in June, which is several million more than Beijing’s total population.
The system was implemented despite privacy concerns and fears that errors could result in restrictions on healthy people. It also complicated the lives of the elderly, who do not always understand technology like the younger generations.
Beijing recently tightened restrictions on Covid-19 after a new cluster of the virus was discovered in Hebei, the province around the capital. Of the 69 new coronavirus cases reported in China on Sunday, 46 were in Hebei.
Also at rt.com
China bans meetings and travel in the regional center after 63 locally transmitted transmitted Covid infections near the capital
Earlier this week, Beijing closed all places of worship and restricted access to a highway leading to Hebei’s main city, Shijiazhuang, while continuing with large-scale testing of the population.
Did you like this story? Share this with a friend!