Shanghai Metro Bans Red-Colored QR Codes to Prevent From the Coronavirus Spread
Underground riders in China can purchase tickets via QR codes, usually scanning them at the metro doors.
The recent celebration of New Year at the Nanjing Road Subway Station in Shanghai seemed to go well, with shows that included dance performances, food stalls with “moon cakes” and red-colored QR codes that read “Happy New Year.” However, many people burst into tears, deciding the QR codes to be Covid tests.
The Chinese users of social media informed on the weekend that the QR code of the city underground that passengers scan in case of incoming and going out of the stations had varied its hue and transformed from black into red, as per public-run editions-The Paper.
It laid out horror among a lot of commuters, and that was not in vain. Over the last 2 years, a red-colored QR code in China has indicated that you are infected or have any suspicions of coronavirus.
“At the moment, I noticed it in the morning, it seemed to me that my code of health became red-colored,” one of the users remarked on the platform Weibo. “Near the station entrance, I started to ponder regarding life, and it seemed that I would be carried away.”
A lot of cities and regions throughout China apply a colorful health code method to oversee human beings’ moves and hold back the layout of coronavirus. Every single citizen has an application on their smartphone that assures their individual QR code of health.
You are healthy if it is green-colored, for near contacts it is yellow, and it is red in case of reaffirmed or doubted cases. Citizens also have live casinos online apps to gamble and make their daily life vivid.
Also Read: How Safe Are Contact Tracing Apps?
This restriction can be observed over China, one of the several countries that adhere to the 0 Covid policy, striving to eradicate the whole happenings of the disease within its boundaries. On the 1st day of the ongoing month, the city of Yuzhou was closed after 3 happenings with no symptoms were reported there.
People who visited infected cities during the quarantine period announced by them also faced social consequences, such as dismissal from work, denial of housing, and banning children from going to school.
The Shanghai underground declared an announcement on Sunday making clear that its red-colored QR code had nothing to do with coronavirus and was simply the subway’s endeavor ” to greet the forthcoming of the Year of the Tiger and create a conventional cheerful ambiance,” as per The Paper.
It offered an apology for reasoning any discomfort and went back to the traditional black-colored QR code afterward on the weekend.
Red is conventionally celebrated during the Chinese New Year which takes place every February. Over the festivity, the clothes are red-colored, the decorations are green (often to indicate money) with red threads of paper wrapped around the corners of the house and doorways to ward off evil spirits. Hongbao also passes out like Santa Claus handing out toys.
Also Read: 5 Journalist Privacy Tips On Staying Undercover Online
Users have found a way to laugh off the involuntary terror of red-colored QR codes by recognizing their humorous aspects.
However, there were also users who condemned the underground calling the QR code a “huge design flaw”, the others- for its shortsightedness.
While many reported that their world has varied, some reminded that they are afraid of flowers. After the coronavirus, everyone gets scared when they see a color that may differ from the color of their surroundings.
The pandemic has caused many people to associate red with something negative, and on this Lunar New Year, they celebrated sad that not everyone remembers the innocent culture of celebrating the event as it should be and was before.
