Some Beijing Travelers Asked To Wear COVID Monitoring Bracelets (reuters.com) 72
Some Beijing residents returning from domestic travel were asked by local authorities to wear COVID-19 monitoring bracelets, prompting widespread criticism on Chinese social media by users concerned about excessive government surveillance. Reuters reports: According to posts published on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning on microblogging platform Weibo, some Beijing residents returning to the capital were asked by their neighborhood committees to wear an electronic bracelet throughout the mandatory home quarantine period. Chinese cities require those arriving from parts of China where COVID cases were found to quarantine. Authorities fit doors with movement sensors to monitor their movements but until now have not widely discussed the use of electronic bracelets.
The bracelets monitor users' temperature and upload the data onto a phone app they had to download, the posts said. "This bracelet can connect to the Internet, it can definitely record my whereabouts, it is basically the same as electronic fetters and handcuffs, I won't wear this," Weibo user Dahongmao wrote on Wednesday evening, declining to comment further when contacted by Reuters. This post and others that shared pictures of the bracelets were removed by Thursday afternoon, as well as a related hashtag that had garnered over 30 million views, generating an animated discussion on the platform.
A community worker at Tiantongyuan, Beijing's northern suburb, confirmed to state-backed news outlet Eastday that the measure was in effect in the neighbourhood, though she called the practice "excessive." A Weibo post and a video published on the official account of Eastday.com was removed by Thursday afternoon. Weibo user Dahongmao wrote on Thursday afternoon his neighbourhood committee had already collected the bracelets, telling him that "there were too many complaints."
The bracelets monitor users' temperature and upload the data onto a phone app they had to download, the posts said. "This bracelet can connect to the Internet, it can definitely record my whereabouts, it is basically the same as electronic fetters and handcuffs, I won't wear this," Weibo user Dahongmao wrote on Wednesday evening, declining to comment further when contacted by Reuters. This post and others that shared pictures of the bracelets were removed by Thursday afternoon, as well as a related hashtag that had garnered over 30 million views, generating an animated discussion on the platform.
A community worker at Tiantongyuan, Beijing's northern suburb, confirmed to state-backed news outlet Eastday that the measure was in effect in the neighbourhood, though she called the practice "excessive." A Weibo post and a video published on the official account of Eastday.com was removed by Thursday afternoon. Weibo user Dahongmao wrote on Thursday afternoon his neighbourhood committee had already collected the bracelets, telling him that "there were too many complaints."
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You may be OK with 1% of population dying, but I can understanding why some countries are willing to put serious effort into preventing !% death.
On the other hand, the US does not seem to care about ANY number of people being shot dead, so it is perhaps not surpring that 1% COVID de
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I'm going by the latest numbers for Infection Fatality Rate that I can find, but I'm open to seeing any source that says otherwise. Specifically, I'm referring to this study from the WHO:
>I included 61 studies (74 estimates) and eight preliminary national estimates. Seroprevalence estimates ranged from 0.02% to
53.40%. Infection fatality rates ranged from 0.00% to 1.63%, corrected values from 0.00% to 1.54%. Across 51 locations, the median COVID-19
infection fatality rate was 0.27% (corrected 0.23%): the r
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This likely drops further if you're vaccinated, or maybe it takes it into account.
The strains that are most likely to break through vaccination are less likely to end you. I'm presently sick with Covid (despite being fully vaxxed) and aside from a truly wicked headache, it's like a mild flu.
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Never mind the side effects that might be revealed in only many years from now.
It always seems strange to me that people worry about the side effects of the vaccine, while completely ignoring the side effects of the actual virus.
Did you know that one of the side effects of COVID is death? Hope you don't get it.
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Unfortunately you seem to have contracted a case of chronic stupidity. I'm sorry for your loss.
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Do you think vaccination attenuates the strength of the virus you currently have?
Probably not, but considering I never caught the initial strain that was killing people by filling their lungs with glue, I'd say the vaccine did its job. The fact that Covid mutated into less deadly strains comes down to luck, that's the only part I'll give you. I know a few people who had the original strain who had a really rough go of it.
Covid would've been fucking gone had everyone just gotten their vaccine, but no, buncha anti-vax cowboys had to give it a reservoir so it could mutate. Thanks for th
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Of course, at this point if you're not vaxxed, you're going to catch Covid, it's just a question of when. No one is masking or social distancing anymore, and the vaccines don't work at all against whatever variant is currently going around.
I think at this point, you are going to catch it no matter what. I'm vaccinated, have very little social life, and have caught covid 3 times.
First time I caught it was before we have the vaccines but still got it 2 more times.
Having covid all the times was like a bad cold. But unlike a bad cold, my breathing never recovered.
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But unlike a bad cold, my breathing never recovered.
That's the part I'm afraid of... People keep quoting mortality rate, which admittedly is low unless you're old, but permanent inability to do exercise or brain fog is scary.
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The number of deaths certainly did NOT double. There was a 17% increase at most.
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I get the impression that the US is all about personal responsibility. If you died of COVID, well you should have been in better health, younger, had better medical insurance or whatever. If you get shot, well you should have bought your own gun to protect yourself with.
That makes dealing with public health problems very difficult.
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The whole "You should have X" is nothing more than an expression of intentional cruelty through victim blaming. B
Statistically speaking... (Score:5, Funny)
"Lol what are you gonna do, put 24/7 realtime tracking devices on your citizens to 'protect' them from a disease with a 0.01% mortality rate
Well, statistics probably show that they work because the mortality rate for those that refuse to wear them is likely to be much higher.
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Well, statistics probably show that they work because the mortality rate for those that refuse to wear them is likely to be much higher.
Wut?
Oh! I think I got it, it's a joke, isn't it? You mean that in China, you are more likely to die if you refuse to do what the government says?
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I also get all my talking points from unhinged
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Are you aware of who the CDC and WHO are?
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And the CDC?
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A rather stupid and ignorant viewpoint. China is a type of society where it's very common for adult children to live with their elderly parents, and for the children to take care of their elderly parents until they die.
Bit of a plot twist at the end (Score:2)
I thought it was going to say something like "Weibo user Dahongmao had been collected by the neighbourhood committee, who confirmed that there had been no complaints at all, really"
You know, the Nazis had pieces of flair that they (Score:1)
You know, the Nazis had pieces of flair that they made the Jews wear.
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You know, the Nazis had pieces of flair that they made the Jews wear
And people would stop to stare at the suffering and despair
At the matted hair and the dirty clothes they wear
Because no-body cared that it wasn't fair
They just went upon their way, like any other day.
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They outright imprison astronauts when they return from space
Sounds familiar [hdnux.com].
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I know it's a quote from Office Space (great film, BTW), but you'd be surprised how much Nazi-like behavior people are willing to tolerate. I'm sure with all this right-wing "groomer" fear mongering you'd find a not-insignificant percentage of society who would be thrilled to round up LGBTQ+ people into internment camps.
You know who else did that? Actual Nazis.
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I'm sure with all this right-wing "groomer" fear mongering you'd find a not-insignificant percentage of society who would be thrilled to round up LGBTQ+ people into internment camps.
You know who else did that? Actual Nazis.
You're really beating up that straw man.
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I'm just saying maybe it's not the best idea to emulate aspects of clearly oppressive regimes. It's funny how when it's something like this (covid monitoring devices), most people clearly recognize that it's draconian, but if it's human rights violations, some Americans will happily cheer that shit on as long as it hurts the sort of people they don't like.
That looks fun, let met try. (Score:1)
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Spare me the straight white man persecution complex, where you conveniently left out that the "straight white men" the Nazis were rounding up were Jews.
Remind me again whose party's supporters were standing all day in the blazing hot Florida sun protesting Disney because they believed the company was trying to turn their kids gay? The slope is always a lot slipperier than it appears. Attacking the vulnerable minorities in your own society is a common thread in oppressive regimes (China, Russia, pretty muc
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I'm sure with all this left-wing "straight white man" fear mongering you'd find a not-insignificant percentage of society who would be thrilled to round up straight white men into internment camps. You know who else did that? Actual Nazis.
I am a straight, white, man. I am comfortable with who I am. Because I am comfortable with who I am -I am not afraid of gay men, lesbians, transexuals, bisexuals, queers, old people, young people, people who dress funny, people who speak other languages, or people with different skin tones. They are just people.
You don't need to be afraid. Let go of your fear, and just be yourself. It's OK.
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Only some? Sounds reasonable.
Yeah, just the ones that look anonymous.
Surveillance is normal in China (Score:5, Insightful)
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Chinese people seem to like surveillance. When I asked some of my wife's friends about it, they were of the opinion that the government was keeping them safe.
Back when you had to quarantine in the UK, the police would sometimes check up on people to make sure they were at home. People got some hefty fines for breaking quarantine rules, although those look questionable now that members of the government (including the Prime Minister himself) have had much smaller fines for serial partying during lockdown.
The guy (Score:3)
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He'll just get his social credit score lowered.
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China Gov Bad (Score:2)
Excessive government surveillance? (Score:2)
"Some Beijing residents returning from domestic travel were asked by local authorities to wear COVID-19 monitoring bracelets, prompting widespread criticism on Chinese social media by users concerned about excessive government surveillance."
They're getting worried now? I'm sorry, guys, but that ship has sailed.
Who are these weird mutant humans? (Score:1)
If I'm running even a slight fever there is no way I'm getting out of bed. It amazes me that some people can actually go about their daily lives like nothing is wrong while running a temperature.
This also seems like it would do nothing to find the people who are asymptomatic spreaders.
But it's China, they gotta put on a show like the government isn't completely incompetent. At least our two-party system in the USA allows each side to blame the other for our leaders' incompetence.
isn't this just a "smartwatch"? (Score:3, Insightful)
Meanwhile in the West, people pay money to wear a fitbit or a smartwatch. It sounds like the Chinese government is giving them away for free!
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Pro tip (Score:1)
'asked'... yeah, right (Score:2)
Though this can be taken as a sign of civilisation; the British tradition is always to ask people nicely when we're actually requiring them to do something...
Just take a Windows phone with you (Score:2)
One of the 2 users will gladly lend it to you.
Actually, wearing for 3-7 days not bad (Score:2)
Why? (Score:2)