China’s online maps dotted with Covid-testing booths as testing becomes routine under zero-Covid strategy

Online map services of Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent now contain the locations of Covid-19 testing booths in major cities such as Shenzhen
The Chinese government has been heavily reliant on digital screening and tracking since 2020 to control the transmission of the coronavirus

Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Jiaxing Li

Published: 6:00am, 24 May 2022

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Chinese cities have added the locations of tens of thousands of Covid-19 testing booths to online maps, as taking nucleic-acid tests has become a daily routine for citizens under the country’s “dynamic zero Covid” strategy.

AutoNavi, an online map service owned by Alibaba Group Holding – parent company of the South China Morning Post, said last week it had collected data from local health authorities in more than 350 cities and updated its app with information on testing booths. Users can find their nearest booths by typing “nucleic acid” in the search box.

Other popular operators of online maps, including Baidu and Tencent Holdings, have also rolled out similar functions in cities such as Shenzhen and Hangzhou in recent weeks.

People line up for nucleic-acid testing at a booth in Beijing on May 23. Photo: Simon Song

The new services come after major cities said earlier this month they would set up testing booths within a 15-minute walking distance for residents to make testing easily accessible, so that local governments can better monitor coronavirus transmission.

Following recent outbreaks in Shenzhen and Shanghai, China has been tightening control measures across the country. Nucleic-acid testing and the checking of health codes have become part of daily life, as they are now a requirement for attending schools, going to work, and travelling around.

Henan in central China, one of the country’s most populous provinces, said last week it would mandate all residents to do a polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) test every 48 hours. Residents who fail to do so will receive a yellow code on their health-tracking app, barring them from entering public venues and taking public transport, the local government said.

China’s big city plan for Covid testing just a 15-minute walk away

The Chinese government has been heavily reliant on digital screening and tracking since early 2020 to deal with the coronavirus. It mandates all residents to register a coloured health QR code that categorises them into green, yellow or red based on recent Covid test results and visit records.

The tracking measures helped China control the pandemic last year, when the country only reported two related deaths. However, the recent Omicron outbreaks in some of China’s largest cities have prompted the government to double down on its “dynamic Covid zero” strategy, bringing surveillance to another level.

To screen out Covid-positive commuters and curb transmission, Beijing and Shanghai are now urging residents to add personal information – including their identity data, records of latest Covid-19 test results, and health codes – to their transport passes.