Health codes designed to identify infection-free, cross-boundary travelers from Hong Kong to the neighboring Chinese regions of Macao and Guangdong province would be ready for use once the third wave of the pandemic stabilized, the city’s technology bureau chief said on Saturday.

Initial plans were to launch the health code system between May and June, but the government halted it because of a third wave of coronavirus infections, Secretary for Innovation and Technology Alfred Sit told Commercial Radio on Saturday.

The system aims to ease travel between Hong Kong, Macao and mainland China’s Guangdong by allowing travelers to present immigration officers with a QR code that shows their negative COVID-19 test results on a smartphone.

Sit said a quota would apply in the beginning when the system was launched, so those planning a mainland trip must first make an appointment online and get tested at a designated center. Once the negative outcome came through, the applicant would be able to download a personal QR code from the website of the government’s Centre for Health Protection giving online access to the test results.

The QR code would also contain personal details such as the applicant’s name, birth date, identification number and phone number, and would be sent to the mainland upon the applicant’s consent, he said.

With the QR code, applicants will be exempt from a quarantine of 14 days mandated by Guangdong.

On whether the health codes would be ready by the Mid-autumn Festival or China’s National Day holiday on Oct. 1, Sit said only that he hoped to roll out the system as soon as possible after the third COVID-19 wave subsided.

The technology minister also revealed they were developing another smartphone application, which would notify users of any risk of infection.

Users of the app can scan personal QR codes assigned to taxi drivers and restaurants, and will get notified if the driver or restaurant scanned is later confirmed to be infected with COVID-19.

Sit stressed that, due to respect for privacy concerns, the app was not mandatory for download.

Residents could also expect to receive a second round of reusable facial masks within one to two weeks to gear up for the winter season, when another wave of infections was possible, he said.

As of 11 a.m. on Saturday, more than one million people had registered online for the government’s free and voluntary citywide COVID-19 testing, according to Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip on Facebook.

However, the government had also received 160 complaints regarding the mass testing, with some claiming that their identities had been used by others. Sit said there were around 90 cases of identity theft and would let the police follow up on the problem.

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