Elderly left behind by spread of digital services in China after coronavirus
- Old people in China have suffered as services and facilities have digitised after the coronavirus outbreak, with some unable to work out how to leave home
- Others, like Wang Yingru, have got the hang of mobile payments, but need help to book a taxi or medical appointment. You have to be willing to learn, she says
Digital solutions for the post-Covid-19 world have left many older people in China battling to adapt.
Community centres try to help, tech companies tailor products for the elderly and the government has policies that address the issue. But according to experts, more needs to be done to help people like 72-year-old Wang Yingru – who, without her family’s support, could not even buy groceries or make medical appointments.
When the Covid-19 epidemic began, private services in China quickly digitised, placing emphasis on information gathering to contain and stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Now digital QR codes are needed to enter shopping centres and banks, for example, and to use public transport. Hospitals rapidly moved making reservations onto mobile phone apps, while many supermarkets stopped accepting any means of payment other than by mobile phone.
Wang used to pay by cash at supermarkets, could use public transport freely, and made medical appointments by walking into a hospital and speaking to a receptionist.
But in the post-Covid-19 world that’s all changed, and Wang struggles to keep pace with the changes.