After a notice of a positive test result inside a building in Shanghai's Yangpu District, people fled outside to avoid getting locked in.
According to the official guidelines, individuals arriving (back) in Beijing must have a green health code and a negative nucleic acid test obtained within 48 hours. Chinese state media commentator Hu Xijin (@胡锡进), who is Beijing-based, also responded to the controversy, emphasizing that the bracelets had already been retrieved by community workers and that Beijing city would not force people to wear electronic wristbands during home quarantine. She explained that it is used to check the body temperature and that they could conveniently monitor body temperature data on the phone. She said it’s a requirement from higher-up and that I shouldn’t make it difficult for her, I said I would not want to make it difficult for her but that she could tell those above her that I won’t wear it. In the middle of the night, I then received a notification from my community that they are giving me an electric bracelet to wear,” one Beijing resident writes on Weibo on July 14: “If they need to monitor my health, I’ll cooperate with temperature checks and nucleic acid tests at the door, but I cannot accept this so-called 24-hour electronic monitoring.” If this bracelet can connect to the internet, it definitely is also able to record my movements and it’s almost like wearing electronic handcuffs. Similar stories by Beijing residents returning back to the city after traveling have popped up on Chinese social media over the past few days. Seeing that I could go out, a lady from the community called me and said that there was a new policy again and that all people in home quarantine must wear an electronic bracelet, and that it would be delivered to me that night. If I go to Shanghai I fear being locked inside the city. “Where is the law? Afterward, anti-epidemic staff had entered their homes for disinfection and to check if any residents were still inside. They will have to be called back to isolate,” one commenter wrote.