By Sabine Hackländer, ARD-Studio Shanghai zzt. Hong Kong

Hong Kong's government is serious. No one should break the quarantine measures in the future, as has always happened in the past. Many of the newly arrived passengers had happily moved through the city instead of staying at home or in the hotel.

Hong Kongers can see that this is not without consequences every day when the latest Corona case numbers are published. Many of the newly infected cases of the past few days have actually been imported from abroad.

Movements are tracked

Now the bracelet and the threat of drastic punishments should ensure the necessary discipline, explains Hong Kong government spokesman Viktor Lam. "We can use this app to understand the movements of the people concerned. The device does not record the specific location, but only the change of location by tracking the communication signals."

This is possible because a so-called QR code is integrated into the bracelet. This, in turn, is coupled to the smartphone app and reacts to Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or GPS signals. The ribbon is somewhat similar to that for newborns in the hospital.

 

Cards with case numbers

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High penalties for contradiction

The first to be given it in the morning were passengers on a flight from Melbourne to Hong Kong. They were still hoping to get around the new, stricter quarantine measures. "I took an extra flight earlier and thought I would make it before the new quarantine deadline. But the plane was late. Now I have no choice," said a young man.

Government spokesman Lam meanwhile warned against taking off the bracelet prematurely. There will be random checks. Violators would face a prison sentence of up to six months and a fine of the equivalent of 3000 euros.

After the two-week quarantine, the tape can then simply be cut. It was developed by the Hong Kong University of Technology in association with a start-up company.