Gov’t to expand QR Itinerary tracking functions

The footprint recording system the government is using through the Macau Health Code mobile application (app) is planned to expand its functionalities once a larger number of people are using it, the Health Bureau (SSM) director Alvis Lo said yesterday in response to a media inquiry.

Speaking at the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center weekly press briefing, Lo said that the current tracking of people’s itineraries through a “check-in” system currently being rolled out citywide is “just the first phase.” He added: “we will promote more functions step-by-step.”

According to his explanation, the increasing functionality of the system is linked to the number of users, with the government hoping to add more functions as the app’s userbase grows.

To a suggestion by a media outlet representative, Lo agree that “in the second phase, [they] might implement the ‘check-out’ to be used when people leave a certain venue.”

Currently, and according to the information provided, the system records when a user enters a venue via the scanning of a QR code but does not trace any further steps taken until the user “checks in” in another venue.

According to the same media representative, the government should enforce an even more restrictive system that would record both entry and exit from every venue, to ensure that the authorities know more about each use, including how long they spend inside venues, etc.

According to Lo, on January 12 there were 40,000 new registered downloads of the app, added to a userbase of around 224,000 people.

“When the number is even higher, we will promote more changes,” Lo said. RM