The government announced on Thursday (21st) that from next month, all government employees and citizens must use "Travel with peace of mind" to enter government buildings and office premises.
Some citizens questioned the government's move as if to break its promise, because officials have said in the past that citizens can "voluntarily participate" in using the program.
However, the new crown virus epidemic prevention measures must be controlled by the time, and the lack of "paper filling" information can easily cause epidemic prevention loopholes. Therefore, the use of "safe travel" in more places will definitely strengthen the society's virus tracking ability.
"Travel with peace of mind" was launched in November last year. The Bureau of Innovation and Technology, Xue Yongheng, said at the time that the program was "voluntary participation and self-recording." Later, Chief Executive Carrie Lam revised her statement in the second half of the same month, saying that "if a need is found." You can ask citizens to use the program when entering designated premises.
The government has not explained what is necessary, but objectively speaking, "voluntary participation" of citizens does have its limitations. Therefore, it is understandable to consider increasing the scope of the program in order to plug the gap in epidemic prevention.
"Paper Filler" has loopholes in epidemic prevention
Although the number of downloads of the "Travel with Peace" app has increased to more than 5.6 million, the number of people using the alternative method of "paper filling" in restaurants and government establishments has also decreased, indicating that the app has been widely adopted.
However, epidemic prevention is a matter for the whole society. Even if most people comply with public health measures, it is not enough. The goal must be to prevent dripping.
Government places use services to the general public, and the flow of people is concentrated, and it is natural to be more vigilant.
At present, the information on travel with peace of mind will only be stored in the citizens' own mobile phones.
(Photo/Photo by Ou Jiale)
As a government spokesperson said, many of the other people who chose to "fill in paper" have omitted to fill in or provided false information, making it difficult for the authorities to track the transmission route when a community outbreak returns, let alone when law enforcement officers conduct random inspections of premises. Continue to find that customers did not scan codes or even used fake programs.
Therefore, compulsory use of "Travel with peace of mind" in government premises can reduce the chance of leaking the transmission chain and help citizens establish a habit of scanning codes.
"Travel with peace of mind" pays off
In addition, "Travel with peace of mind" did play a certain role in tracking the epidemic. During the outbreak of the group infection of "Famous Tide Restaurant" in February this year, Deputy Government Information Technology Director Huang Zhiguang revealed that some patients did it after receiving risk information notifications. Test and confirm the diagnosis.
In contrast, in early June, there was a confirmed patient who had not used "Travel with Peace" before. The center had to broadcast relevant information to people who had visited the same place based on the whereabouts information provided by the patient.
Obviously, it is inevitable that patients will remember the time and place of visit by mistake or miss the time and place of visit by simply relying on memories, which is by no means ideal.
On the other hand, some citizens refuse to use "Travel with peace of mind" because they are worried that the government will use programs to record their whereabouts and infringe on privacy. However, they must also understand that privacy and public health protection must be balanced during the epidemic.
If you overemphasize your privacy and make it impossible to track the virus's transmission route, you will suffer at any time and you will be more likely to affect others.
Huang Jingwen added that "Travel with peace of mind" has been downloaded 5 million times. So far, "there hasn't been any troubles." He emphasized that the program has passed independent review. The authorities published the program's technical specifications, security risk assessment, audit Privacy impact assessment report, etc., in response to the public’s demand for greater transparency.
(Photo by Liang Pengwei)
As for the tracking of infections that have caused controversy in other places, such as France, Italy and Greece, there have been more demonstrations, but the local government has not deterred it. For example, the French Parliament passed a government bill on the 21st to extend the implementation of the "Health Pass" until the end of July next year. People who have received all the injections or tested negative must present a paper or mobile phone QR code to enter public places such as restaurants, sports centers, and theaters. This also supports the Hong Kong government’s rationale for expanding the scope of the "Travel with peace of mind" program.
Finally, the government has taken care of a group of people who are not able to make good use of smartphones. It is appropriate to allow children under 12, seniors over 65, and people with disabilities who have difficulty using "Travel with Peace" to register with their real names.
Of course, the new policy still cannot violate some basic guarantees. For example, citizens should not be denied entry into necessary places such as hospitals and clinics because they have not scanned the code.
At the same time, the government can also refer to the practices of Singapore and Malaysia to develop and provide wearable or portable sensing devices to reduce the procedures for citizens to fill in and process paper slips on premises.
In the end, facts speak louder than words. The government wants to convince the public that "traveling with peace of mind" is necessary and useful for themselves and others, and even encourages large private establishments to follow suit. It can publish successful examples of using apps to track confirmed cases in the past, but it is helpless. It has not been made public so far, so it is a pity that I have to say.
[New Coronary Pneumonia] "Travel with peace of mind" will be widely promoted with soft commentary to help accept the enlightenment of Macau and the Mainland customs clearance to Hong Kong. Hong Kong needs an effective and powerful customs clearance code
