ExplainerHong Kong has updated its ‘Leave Home Safe’ Covid-19 app. Here’s what you need to know
- A new version of the ‘Leave Home Safe’ mobile app was made available for download on Thursday
- The new app will help restaurants and other venues check vaccination records
Only people who have received at least one Covid-19 shot will be allowed to enter restaurants and bars, government premises and venues such as gyms, theme parks and salons from February 24, as Hong Kong’s leader looks to increase the inoculation rate via the launch of a vaccine pass.
In preparation for the vaccine pass, which is a rebranding of the government’s vaccine bubble scheme, a new version of the “Leave Home Safe” mobile app was made available for download on Thursday.
The app allows patrons to scan QR codes upon arrival, creating a log of places visited without the collection of personal data or having movements tracked in real time. The government has repeatedly said that the data is saved on users’ mobile devices in an encrypted format.
The app alerts users if they have visited places where they may have been exposed to the coronavirus. The government said the contact-tracing tool had been downloaded 7.5 million times since it was launched in November 2020.
At present, more than 110,000 venues require use of the app, among which about 87,000 are private.
What are the new features?
The new version of the app will display a QR code for the user’s electronic vaccination record or a medical exemption certificate for the unvaccinated.