Tech helps residents in virus fight

The harnessing of technology has played a big role in Shanghai's fight against a resurgence of COVID-19 infections that has seen the daily tally of infections rise to more than 100 this month.

Measures taken to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in the city, home to more than 24 million people, have had an unavoidable impact on residents' everyday work and lives, with demand for nucleic acid tests soaring and waiting times at testing sites becoming unpredictable.

A shared online document that allows residents to update waiting times at testing sites across the city has come to the rescue. Since its debut on Sunday, the document has been edited hundreds of times and shared by tens of thousands of users.

"The current outbreak in Shanghai hit the city suddenly," said Jin Cheng, a fresh doctoral graduate in finance from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, who designed the document. "Many residents have to line up for tests and I hope the document will help reduce residents' time spent on tests, to make effective use of medical resources."

Equipped with tech skills honed when he assisted in building an online learning system at the university in 2020, Jin entered the waiting time at a hospital near his home on the document on Saturday. He then sent it to friends through the WeChat social media platform, and it has since been updated and shared far beyond the university.

"I log in once in a while to save a copy, in case useful information is accidentally deleted," he said.

A digital map available on mobile phones that shows information about some 200 COVID-19 testing sites in the city was also shared among students and faculty at the university on Sunday.

It was created by Tao Xuezhen, an assistant professor at the university's business school. Users who click a button on any of the testing sites on the map receive general information about the sites including opening hours, contact numbers and addresses. The system automatically redirects to the navigation apps on users' mobile phones to display routes.

"The pressure on medical personnel at top hospitals is surging, as most residents will go to renowned hospitals for tests," Tao said. "However, there are other sites, including many pop-up COVID-19 testing sites, and the map will help residents find one."

Communities are also harnessing technology that aids in combating the COVID-19 pandemic and city management.

Over 300 cloud broadcasting terminal devices have been installed in 67 neighborhoods in Jing'an district's Pengpu Xincun subdistrict to inform residents of new anti-pandemic policies.

"It's way more efficient than face-to-face conversations and posting notices on residential buildings," said Huang Ciming, the subdistrict's community safety director.

As the number of neighborhoods placed under quarantine increases, many residents have requested quarantine certificates to submit to their employers. Neighborhood committee members in the Shiquan Road subdistrict in Putuo district have come up with a one-click service that allows residents to apply for a digital one on their mobile phones.

It takes less than 30 seconds, according to Zhou Jing, deputy director of the subdistrict's civil affairs office.

Previously they had to go to the committee's office, where staff members would fill in the applicant's information to produce a hard copy of the certificate.

Shanghai is experiencing its worst outbreak of COVID-19 infections since the pandemic started in late December 2019. The city reported 105 new locally transmitted COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, 101 of whom were asymptomatic.