A PERSONAL QR code is now required to enter residential complexes and urban villages across Shenzhen, according to a requirement issued by the city’s novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) prevention and control office Sunday night.

The rule is among a series of tightened measures that were released in response to the resumption of work in the city.

Residents can obtain their personal QR code by filling out a form specifying their identification and health information via the “深i您” WeChat mini program or the “iShenzhen” official WeChat account.

Those unable to complete online registration procedures or who do not own a smartphone, such as seniors and children, can obtain a physical permit equivalent to a personal QR code by registering with the property management office of their residence or the nearest community work station.

Pingshan District’s Shijing Community is one of the Shenzhen neighborhoods that implemented the rule before it was made compulsory Sunday night.

A Shijing Community resident showed his permit to personnel at the inspection point of his residential compound after returning from grocery shopping Saturday.

“Without the permit, I wouldn’t be able to enter the compound,” said the resident surnamed Li.

Li also showed the permit when passing through the inspection point, the only passage in and out of the residential compound, on his way out.

The practice has been applauded by residents in the community. “We feel safer now,” Li said.

Under the measures, residents sharing a housing unit will all be quarantined at home for 14 days if any of the unit’s inhabitants tests positive for NCP.

All communities and residential compounds across the city are required to set up an inspection point at the main entrance and close all subentrances. Residents will also have to undergo a temperature check when exiting and entering their residential compounds or urban villages.

As all residential communities and urban villages are under tight management, residents are discouraged from leaving their homes.

Shenzhen residents who are still in Hubei Province, the area hit hardest by NCP, are encouraged to delay their return. Those who have already returned to Shenzhen are required to stay isolated at home for 14 days upon arrival, register with the subdistrict office where they live and report their health condition in a timely manner.

Those who have had close contact with people who are infected with the virus or recently returned from Hubei will also be quarantined at home for 14 days, according to the measures.

The measures require subdistrict offices to spare no efforts in the prevention and control of the virus at the urban villages and residential buildings with most tenants. Inspection and service groups formed with grass-roots level government employees, police officers, community clinic doctors and volunteers should conduct in-house inspections in their neighborhoods to ensure outbreak prevention and that people under quarantine stay in isolation.

Community employees and volunteers will be organized to deliver food and other daily necessities to people under home quarantine and help them dispose of garbage. Face masks and other necessary prevention gear will be provided to lone senior residents and other people in need.

A hotline will be launched to provide psychological intervention and consultation services to residents experiencing anxiety and panic attacks caused by the virus outbreak and the family members of medical workers treating infected patients.

The newly released tightened measures aim at containing the outbreak as work resumed yesterday after a prolonged Spring Festival holiday. By 12 p.m. yesterday, the city had reported 369 infections, 313 of whom are being treated at Shenzhen No. 3 People’s Hospital. Fifty-six patients have recovered and been discharged. Another 1,104 people are under medical observation.

Other control measures include the implementation of no-contact delivery for food and parcels, mandatory mask-wearing in public, and the daily disinfection of public areas such as elevators and corridors.

(Wei Jie)

Local Daily Report

Total: 369

New: 1

Recovered: 56

Death toll: 0