The highly contagious nature of the COVID-19 virus has driven everyone inside their houses and left the world a handicap. QR code technology could prove to be a technology that could help any organization sustain its limited operations without a risk of spreading the virus. QR code technology is a contactless solution which has many uses. This article broadly talks about the main uses of QR code technology.
COVID-19 or the novel coronavirus has brought the world to a standstill. Economies have plunged to the abyss as many workers had to see the door, manufacturing of all items has stopped, and small scale businesses are closing down due to lack of sales and so on. In simple words, a microscopic particle has pushed the world back by at least a decade.
In these dire times, if there is one thing that can help us, it is the technology. QR code is one such offshoot of technology that has found profound uses in various walks of life. Authorities can track QR Codes to gather useful information about people and prevent the spreading of COVID-19 even further by identifying potential carriers of the virus. Also, QR codes facilitate cashless transactions, which again helps to curb the growth of COVID-19. Let us dive deeper into these applications.
How QR codes are helping in fighting COVID-19
1. Collect information about people
Chinese authorities in the city of Shanghai have found a unique way to use the QR codes for tracking the information of people. One of the biggest challenges associated with coronavirus is the difficulty in identifying those who have been affected by the virus. Affected people start showing the symptom only after a few days, and by then he/she would have spread it to multiple people unknowingly.
By sticking QR codes across every coach in the metro trains, every passenger is advised to scan the QR code with their smartphone and provide their basic information. The authorities then create a repository of this information after they scan the QR codes. In case any passenger in that coach is affected with coronavirus, the other passengers can be easily notified with this information.
2. Identify affected people
China has found another innovative way to fight the coronavirus. The authorities have taken the help of tech giant Alibaba to develop an application that helps in identifying people who are affected or prone to catching the coronavirus. The residents of Hangzhou have been asked to fill out a form with their ID number, their travel history, and any possible symptoms. This information is converted into a color (red, yellow and green) based QR code on their mobiles that indicate their health status. People with red code have to quarantine themselves for 14 days, those with yellow for seven days and those with green are allowed to travel freely. The authorities scan the QR codes at various checkpoints such as railway stations, bus stations, or even when a person enters a residential apartment to prevent these people from entering and spreading the virus to a large group.
3. Facilitate cashless transaction
The deep fear of the authorities and the general population of the coronavirus is mainly due to the ability of the virus to spread effortlessly to other people. When an unaffected person touches an object that was previously touched by an affected person, the chances of the virus entering his body is very high.
Money, one of the most transferred objects in the world, can also be a potential carrier of the virus. Fortunately, the advent of many payment apps like Google Pay has utilized QR codes to facilitate cashless transactions, thereby eliminating the need to touch and transfer cash. All you have to do is scan the QR code in a shop or the QR code on a person’s mobile to transfer the required amount.
Conclusion
Technology is being the savior of humanity during these difficult times. The world can fight COVID-19 only through a combination of people’s awareness and technology. Using QR codes is one example in which technology is helping us to get rid of the virus once and for all. Authorities across the globe are using QR code technology and making QR codes to identify a lot of useful information to track COVID-19 that would have been impossible without QR codes.
