Coronavirus: Hong Kong government scrambles to fix glitch in quarantine wristbands after only a third of tracking devices work

Many travellers told to self-isolate have complained they never received the SMS message to initiate a smartphone app connected to the wristbands

Chief information officer apologises and says staff will work out kinks in the system, with authorities later saying all users have received the messages

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Victor Lam apologised for the issues with the implementation. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 1:26pm, 20 Mar 2020Updated: 7:44am, 21 Mar 2020

Only a third of tracking wristbands given to quarantined arrivals at Hong Kong’s airport could be activated and it took hours before authorities said they had rectified the situation by Friday evening.

Earlier in the day, Victor Lam Wai-kiu, the government’s chief information officer, admitted only some 2,000 of about 6,000 digital bracelets given to users could work, raising doubts over the efficacy of the home-isolation system intended to stem the tide of imported coronavirus infections.

He apologised for the issues with the implementation.

The wristbands were part of the fight against the pandemic, since quarantine measures were extended to cover all travellers from overseas.

By evening, a spokesman for the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer said the total number of wristbands handed out as of noon was more than 7,400, and most of the activation issues were fixed.

“With more manpower deployed and workflow streamlined, the office has already sent out SMSs [to activate the wristbands] to all persons entering Hong Kong via the airport by noon today,” he said.

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