Coronavirus: Hong Kong may consider adding tracking function on ‘Leave Home Safe’ app to boost contact tracing, health chief says
- Health chief Sophia Chan says government will review how to improve contact tracing, but pressing priority is to track those affected by recent chains of infections
- City may also have to resort to home quarantine if places at isolation facilities run out, she adds, as experts warn new wave of Omicron infections could turn into ‘tsunami’
As experts warned the latest Omicron infections could turn into a “tsunami”, Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee on Saturday also said the city might have to resort to home quarantine if places at isolation facilities ran out.
Health authorities had devoted more manpower to identifying people who might have been exposed to the virus by several chains of infections in the city recently, she said.
“We would of course look to the future and review how to improve contact tracing and whether there is a need to have tracking functions on the ‘Leave Home Safe’ app, although our pressing priority now is to focus on tracing current cases,” she said, referring to the mobile application.
Adding a tracking ability to the app would be controversial – some Hongkongers are already sceptical the government is handling the data as claimed.
Using the app is mandatory to enter all government buildings and most public venues, including restaurants and cinemas. Patrons scan QR codes upon arrival, creating a log of the places they have been but without collecting personal data or tracking their movements in real time. The government has repeatedly offered reassurances that the data is only saved on users’ mobile devices in an encrypted format.
But some residents have opted to carry a second mobile phone devoted solely to using the app, rather than installing it on their main one as they fear the programme will access their personal information. In November, police arrested three civil servants and two others for using a fake version of the app.