Coronavirus: Hong Kong’s visually impaired latest to criticise new government app mandate for public buildings

Advocates for visually impaired people say it is difficult for them to locate and scan the ‘Leave Home Safe’ app’s QR codes

The alternative of filling out a paper form, meanwhile, is of little use to those with poor eyesight, they say

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A woman looks at ‘Leave Home Safe’ QR codes posted at the Tai Po Hui wet market. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 5:17pm, 5 Nov 2021Updated: 11:01pm, 5 Nov 2021

Visually impaired Hongkongers have become the latest group to criticise the government’s decision to make the use of its coronavirus exposure-notification app mandatory in public buildings, saying they struggle to use it without assistance.

Since Monday, residents have had to use the “Leave Home Safe” app to register their visits to all government venues, including libraries, swimming pools, offices and wet markets, as part of a recent ramping up of pandemic control measures aimed at convincing Beijing to reopen the border with the city.

Those younger than 12 or older than 65 are exempt, as are those with disabilities who cannot use the app. However, those people still have to fill out a paper form listing their name, contact information, part of their Hong Kong identity card number, and the date and time of their visit.

But Tony Shing Li-lim, executive director of the Hong Kong Federation of the Blind, said it was “quite ridiculous” for visually impaired people to be exempted from using the app, only to then be required to fill in a form.

“The problem is that, from many of our experiences in markets and community centres, there was no staff to help us,” Shing told a radio programme on Friday.

“As you can see, the paper forms are small. The fonts are small as well. It is hard for us, even the people with amblyopia, to fill it in,” he added, using the clinical term for a lazy eye.

There are about 174,800 visually impaired people in Hong Kong, according to the government’s Census and Statistics Department.