A Vision of Our Post-Lockdown Future: In China, the QR code has profound
implications for a person’s ability to move freely throughout society.
Those who have a green QR code have tested negative for the virus and
have not been exposed to it since their last test. They are free to live
normal lives. These codes are checked at the entrance to subways, on
roads, at workplaces, restaurants, cinemas, supermarkets––anywhere,
effectively, that might constitute normal economic activity. If a person
with a green code should come into contact with someone who tests
positive for the virus, even if that contact is as tangential as sharing
a subway carriage with them, the code turns yellow. The person must
self-isolate for a period of seven days and get re-tested after to prove
they are negative. Anyone showing a yellow code in public is sent home.
Should a person have direct, close contact exposure with someone who
has tested positive, then their code will turn red and they will be
taken to a public quarantine facility for up to 14 days.
