Only a handful of the world’s countries are unscathed by the coronavirus.
For the majority battling the disease there is no single answer,
so many are testing out
different measures to fight the disease.
Texas tried roadblocks to stop the spread.
South Korea has aggressively tested for the disease.
Italy has extended its emergency anti-coronavirus
measures with a lockdown
of the entire country.
Most agree keeping people at home is vital.
Hong Kong has one the best records in fighting the virus,
just four deaths in a population of seven and half million.
That's not much smaller than New York.
The 2003 SARS outbreak lives long in the memory
and the city brought in tough early measures
to get ahead.
By the end of January Hong Kong closed schools,
it sent all of its public servants home.
The semiautonomous Chinese territory is taking no chances.
On March 19, the Hong Kong government began
enforcing a compulsory 14-day quarantine
for anyone arriving from overseas.
Arrivals are instructed to download an app - ‘StayHomeSafe’ -
which pairs with an electronic bracelet.
So far, 65,000 have been issued.
While the product is new, the technology - geofencing -
is actually pretty old.
If you look at the clothes, the clothes often has a tag on it, right?
If you leave the shop with the tag on,
the alarm will sound. This is geofencing.
It's geofencing for the clothes.
How does your application of geofencing
work in the current crisis?
Basically, in our apartment,
we have different kinds of signals beyond GPS.
These signals can be wifi signals,
cellular signals, bluetooth signals.
So these devices offer a very rich set of signals unique to your home.
So just by learning the signature of where you live,
you know whether the person is inside a place or not.
Like a virtual boundary.
Yes, it's like a virtual boundary
Some people worry about the privacy implications of tracking people,
but you said that actually
this is privacy preserving to a certain degree?
Your location is not being recorded.
It's only that you are inside the home or outside.
So as long as you're inside, the government would be happy,
they're not checking where you are exactly,
so long as you're inside the quarantine place.
Once you are stepping out, alert will be given to the government.
There have been several reports of the wristbands failing.
Despite this, it’s believed many of Hong Kong’s positive outcomes
are due to conscientious citizens supporting tough government measures.
The coronavirus has raised difficult questions
about our freedom and privacy
when the health of a population is at severe risk.
In Hong Kong, breaking your quarantine could result in a hefty fine,
jail time or even
being shipped off to a government facility.