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Netizens chafe at quarantine bracelets in some communities

By Chen Meiling | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2022-07-14 21:56
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Some netizens have said they were asked to wear an electronic bracelet during home quarantine for prevention and control of COVID-19 in Beijing, which triggered heated discussion over privacy concerns.

A man surnamed Zhao told health specialty newspaper Jiankang Shibao on Thursday he was under quarantine at home in the Tiantongyuan neighborhood of Changping district after returning from a high-risk area for COVID-19 outside Beijing. On Wednesday night, community workers came to his house asking him to wear an electronic bracelet in order to "monitor body temperature".

A netizen named "Dahongmao" on Sina Weibo also posted on Wednesday his community said he had to wear an electronic bracelet, link it to his telephone and report body temperature, as the policy about home quarantine has changed.

"Dahongmao" returned to Beijing from Shenzhen, Guangdong province via Hangzhou, Zhejiang province by airplane. He told tianmunews.com community workers at least need to show a real document to prove there is such a policy.

He said he doesn't want to wear it because he worried about its quality as there is no China Compulsory Certification authentication on the device. The seal means products have been audited by the certification bodies and can only be sold after meeting their requirements.

Product instructions showed it should be worn 24 hours a day, and will record body temperature every five minutes. Users can see the data after downloading an app, which has access to information such as phone location, camera and microphone.

Some netizens wondered whether the device might track one's whereabouts, and some commented "24-hour electric monitoring is unacceptable and damages individual privacy and spiritual safety".

Yang Hongshan, a professor of the School of Public Administration and Policy at Renmin University of China, told Beijing Communication Radio grassroots governance needs to be in accordance with the law, and there should be a balance between implementation of policy and acceptance of the public in epidemic control.

"In modern society, people's awareness of rights has increased. The purpose of management is not to cause trouble, but to solve problems. The feelings and needs of the public should be taken into consideration," he said.

Workers from the Beijing Health Commission told tianmunews.com on Thursday people from medium or high-risk areas outside Beijing need to follow polices about home quarantine, but it didn't make any statement about wearing electronic bracelets. The 12320 health hotline also said there is no requirement for people quarantined to wear a bracelet, and it may be part of epidemic control requirements in some communities.

At noon Thursday, a resident who was given an electric bracelet told chengdu.cn the device was taken by the community because "there were too many complaints".

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