COVID-19: Quarantine and a bracelet for Hong Kong returnees

Semi-autonomous Chinese city issued mandatory wristbands to all arrivals

Last updated: May 21, 2020 | 16:36

AP and Compiled by Nathaniel Lacsina, Digital Content Editor

2 MIN READ

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Hongkong: It sits on your wrist, just as a wristwatch would. And in a moment when the world fears infections more than almost anything, it knows exactly where you are.

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Since late March, residents returning to Hong Kong have been required to undergo a two-week quarantine at home, in a hotel or at a government facility as part of stepped-up efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

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To ensure people don't flout quarantine, the semi-autonomous Chinese city issued mandatory wristbands to all arrivals, to be worn for the entirety of the two-week period.

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Those required to go through the two-week quarantine are unable to leave their homes and must rely on food or grocery delivery for meals.

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Government officers also conduct random checks on their homes to make sure they have not broken quarantine.

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That's what happened to Zen Soo, a Hong Kong-based technology writer for The Associated Press.

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For two weeks, she was confined to her apartment, waiting out a quarantine designed to ensure she didn't have COVID-19.

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The wristband was her constant companion. Early versions were glitchy, and the government admitted that only a third of them worked.

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Later ones include a Bluetooth-enabled version that connects to the user's smartphone to monitor movements.

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Just like many around the planet, she persevered. She worked out. She did her job, remotely. She took her temperature and monitored her numbers.

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Occasionally, she stuck her head out of her urban apartment window to capture some coveted fresh air.

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And she waited _ for it all to be over, for the all-clear to arrive. Which, eventually it did. She pushed the "finish the quarantine" button in her phone's app and went back to her virus-era life.

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