China's online maps dotted with Covid-testing booths as testing becomes routine under zero-Covid strategy
Chinese cities have added the locations of tens of thousands of Covid-19 testing booths to online maps, as taking nucleic-acid tests has become a daily routine for citizens under the country's "dynamic zero Covid" strategy.
AutoNavi, an online map service owned by Alibaba Group Holding - parent company of the South China Morning Post, said last week it had collected data from local health authorities in more than 350 cities and updated its app with information on testing booths. Users can find their nearest booths by typing "nucleic acid" in the search box.
Other popular operators of online maps, including Baidu and Tencent Holdings, have also rolled out similar functions in cities such as Shenzhen and Hangzhou in recent weeks.
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People line up for nucleic-acid testing at a booth in Beijing on May 23. Photo: Simon Song alt=People line up for nucleic-acid testing at a booth in Beijing on May 23. Photo: Simon Song>
The new services come after major cities said earlier this month they would set up testing booths within a 15-minute walking distance for residents to make testing easily accessible, so that local governments can better monitor coronavirus transmission.
Following recent outbreaks in Shenzhen and Shanghai, China has been tightening control measures across the country. Nucleic-acid testing and the checking of health codes have become part of daily life, as they are now a requirement for attending schools, going to work, and travelling around.
Henan in central China, one of the country's most populous provinces, said last week it would mandate all residents to do a polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) test every 48 hours. Residents who fail to do so will receive a yellow code on their health-tracking app, barring them from entering public venues and taking public transport, the local government said.
The tracking measures helped China control the pandemic last year, when the country only reported two related deaths. However, the recent Omicron outbreaks in some of China's largest cities have prompted the government to double down on its "dynamic Covid zero" strategy, bringing surveillance to another level.
To screen out Covid-positive commuters and curb transmission, Beijing and Shanghai are now urging residents to add personal information - including their identity data, records of latest Covid-19 test results, and health codes - to their transport passes.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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