Second phase of footprint record system to conclude this month

Health authorities’ bid to place footprint recording location QR codes as a Covid tracking mechanism in as many locations as possible is approaching the conclusion of its second phase, authorities announced.

After the conclusion of the first phase targeting mostly government buildings and public services, schools, restaurants, and other venues highly frequented by the public, the government will now enforce the check-in scans within a large series of private facilities including associations, offices, and private companies, among others, under the second phase of the scheme, the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center announced.

According to Dr Leong Iek Hou, coordinator at the local Center for Disease Control and Prevention, among the new locations to be included are utility companies such as telecommunications, water, and electricity supply companies. Supermarkets and food and beverage takeaway establishments will also be part of this second phase.

The same government official noted that scanning the location QR codes of the venues at all times, “must be a habit to be enforced among the population,” she said, adding that she hopes that citizens can do it more often and of their own initiative.

“We hope citizens will scan the location codes all the time and not just when there is an outbreak or a high risk of one,” Leong said, advancing that the government hopes to have this second phase concluded by the end of May.

For the time being, she said that footprint recording codes have been installed in over 30,000 locations across Macau, a number that will increase during the coming weeks.