The new iBonus® Digital Prevention System is being adopted by a growing number of businesses, companies, and other entities in Hong Kong in an effort to help break COVID-19 transmission chains.
HONG KONG, Aug. 20, 2020 — One of the key reasons that COVID-19 has caused a great concern is its long incubation period. Most experts agree that for up to 14 days many affected patients have no obvious symptoms. Since nobody knows where these people have been or who they have been in contact with in the incubation period, many people around them could potentially also be infected, leading to eruptions of infection in communities and large numbers of new cases. Masks and glove can help stop this but there is clearly a demand for other safeguards as well. To help solve this problem, Hong Kong technology company iBonus Limited has launched a digital prevention system that records the times and places participants have visited through employee smart cards, or the Octopus transit card and a set of designated terminals installed at different locations.
Once someone’s infection has been confirmed, the system will immediately enter all persons who have appeared at the same times and places with the confirmed patient in the past 14 days into an alert list and the list will be sent to all terminals. When someone on the list enters an area, the terminal at that area will ring an alarm.
"COVID-19 has scared so many people because confirmed patients show no obvious symptoms during the incubation period," commented Keith, Managing Director of iBonus Limited. "As a result, they move around in the community like invisible people. If a system can track these patients as well as those in close contacts with them during the incubation period and restrict them from entering high-risk venues such as fresh markets, the elderly homes, hotpot and other restaurants, it can help to cut the chain of transmission and, we hope, put the pandemic under greater control."
The company understands that other kinds of technology working in this area, like contact trackers, have created understandable privacy concerns. Keith suggests the situation is different for this system as it only records the Octopus serial number, which is different from the real-name health code operation number recorded by competitors. By not attaching a real-name to the Octopus serial number it ensures there is no violation to participants’ privacy.
Currently, Hang Fook Elderly Home, Warwick Hotel, On Tai Fresh Market have adopted this system. iBonus is also in negotiation with many large restaurants and malls to also come onboard. Expect more news regarding these developments soon.
For more information be sure to visit https://covid2019system.com.
About iBonus Limited
iBonus Limited was incorporated on 9 June 2014. The iBonus® Legacy system is a contactless smartcard-based pre-paid offline system similar to the Hong Kong Octopus system.
Media Contact
Ms. Anna Lee
Telephone: (852) 91501890
Email: [email protected]
