Shenzhen: Chinese citizens use mapping and travel trackers in an attempt to avoid neighborhoods with coronavirus infections and better prepare for the dangers they face.
Both the data mapping company QuantUrban and a developer of WeChat mini-programs have created platforms that collect official information on the neighborhoods in which the confirmed cases live and map them geographically so that users can measure how close they are to the infection sites.
While the WeChat program, called "YiKuang" - or "Epidemic Situation", covers the southern cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, QuantUrban's browser-based maps also cover nine other cities in the province.
"Shenzhen could have a serious outbreak in the next few days and government data is released slowly," said April, a Shenzhen-based manager who refused to give his full name.
"Seeing the map is a psychological comfort. There is no guarantee that there will be no new cases, but you can avoid an area that is already affected," he said.
The confirmed cases in Shenzhen increased rapidly to 245 starting from Monday, making the southern technological capital the most affected of the main Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. It has a large population of migrant workers from the central provinces that are very affected.
"We wanted to write the information on the map so that the public could better see how epidemic sites are distributed more intuitively and also remind everyone that they have adequate protection," said Yuan Xiaohui, co-founder and CEO of QuantUrban .
Yikuang also relies on volunteers to keep up and originally indicated neighborhoods with confirmed cases with a skull and crossbones logo. Since then, it has changed to less alarming exclamation marks after users of the social media platform Weibo have complained that they would cause panic.
Volunteers also help the team keep the map up to date while the government publishes the data daily.
"If I know there are sick people nearby, I can take steps to be more cautious," Steven Liu, a finance student, told Reuters. "I live between Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and these maps are truly fantastic."
State-owned media CCTV and the People's Daily also supported separate programs that help users track down whether a confirmed infected patient also used a bus, train, or plane they were traveling on.
QuantUrban also covers nine other cities in Guangdong province, Yuan said.
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