Health chief pleads for people to keep tracing app ticking

Wallis Wang

People are being told to keep the LeaveHomeSafe app on their phones as it has other useful functions beyond being used when entering certain types of premises.

The message came from Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau yesterday after the administration announced on Tuesday that people are no longer required to scan the LeaveHomeSafe QR code when entering premises, though they must show their Covid vaccination records in restaurants.

Lo said people should not delete the app as it has useful functions such as making reservations for PCR tests besides storing vaccination records.

"Since the LeaveHomeSafe app was launched in November 2020 there have been more than 40 adjustments and we added a lot of functions," he said. "We will definitely not take it off the app store."

He also said the Covid rules adjustment does not mean the pandemic is over.

The LeaveHomeSafe app and the vaccine pass arrangement are not enemies of the people, he said, though some parties may misunderstand vaccination routines.

In any event, QR code devices were gone from many restaurants, wet markets and offices yesterday.

Some people said it is more convenient not having to scan the code.

They included a mother who took her children to the Haiphong Road temporary cooked food bazaar for a meal.

"It's much more convenient now," she said. "We rarely dined in at restaurants as we had to scan the LeaveHomeSafe app."

A man, Tam, agreed that dropping the LeaveHomeSafe mandate made it easier for diners, and he went on to say the mask requirement should be next to go.

But the change could be difficult for some elderly citizens who do not know how to present their vaccination records, which had popped out automatically after scanning the QR code.

William So Man-sing, vice general manager of the Chinese cuisine London Restaurant in Mong Kok, said the relaxation did not boost the restaurant's business but increased difficulties as some elderly diners did not bring their phones due to the new arrangement.

But they could not enter the restaurant as they failed to carry paper records of vaccinations.

The restaurant also had to have three staff helping diners scan their vaccination records during peak hours, So said, so that arrangement should be canceled as well.

On a related topic, Travel Industry Council chairwoman Gianna Hsu Wong Mei-lun said the cancellation of the amber health code can attract more tourists, but Hong Kong may not benefit from it until Lunar New Year as most tourists have already made plans for Christmas.

She said 50 tour groups planned to come to the SAR before the relaxation, but there could be up to 30 percent more during the Lunar New Year.