(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)

People undergoing home quarantine will be required to wear a tracking bracelet starting July 15, the Government said today.

Announcing the initiative at a press briefing this afternoon, Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau explained that the measure aims to enhance the effectiveness of the home quarantine arrangement.

Prof Lo also revealed that the Government is working on the introduction of a “health code” system, by adding the function to the existing “LeaveHomeSafe” mobile app.

He said a red code will be issued to those who test positive to COVID-19 via nucleic acid tests, as an added feature on their “LeaveHomeSafe” app.

The Government will also consider issuing a yellow code for inbound travellers placed under health observation, who are allowed to leave their homes but who should avoid high-risk places such as restaurants, or places with high-risk groups such as hospitals and elderly homes.

Prof Lo emphasised that the health codes are proposed based on the current COVID-19 situation in Hong Kong, and he believed that, together with the tracking wristbands, the new codes will allow the home quarantine arrangement to serve its purpose better.

“The introduction of this health code of red or yellow is based on our existing COVID-19 situation, the fact that we have over 12,000 people under home quarantine. And this does not exist in Macau or in Shanghai.

“(Hence) we are considering this target group. And by giving them a tracking bracelet and by giving them the red code, we hope that we will be able to enforce the home quarantine in a more effective way and try to prevent these people from causing community outbreaks.

“So by reducing the chance of them getting into the community, we will be able to reduce the transmission from our current level and get to a lower transmission rate of below one and with that, we will be able to reduce the total number of cases and protect our healthcare system.”