London Daily

Focus on the big picture.

How China has turned to tech like never before to combat the coronavirus

Visits to medical-related mini-programs on Chinese super app WeChat rose 347 per cent over the past 20 days, compared to data recorded in December. The impact of the countrywide lockdown on the economy has the potential to cut China’s gross domestic product growth in the first quarter from 6 to 4.5 per cent

When Zhang Ge first donned protective clothing as part of his job as an engineer with a robotics company, it was not to prevent contamination of the delicate electronic circuitry inside his company’s hi-tech products. The 28 year old had been sent to Wuhan, epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, to install catering robots in a hospital at the front lines of the fight to contain the deadly disease.

Zhang was among more than 20 engineers from Shenzhen-based robotics company Pudu Technology assigned to install the robots in over 40 hospitals around the country. His task was to program the robots according to the layout of the hospital so they could automatically deliver cooked food and medication to patients’ bedsides.

“I was really anxious but my anxiety made my [protective] glasses fog up even more,” said Zhang, who went to college in Wuhan. “I had to remove them [to see my computer clearly].”

It took him four hours to complete an installation that would normally take one hour. By then it was after midnight and he could not get a hotel in the city so ended up sleeping in the hospital’s duty room.

Hundreds of millions across China are facing similar feelings of anxiety, along with sadness and even anger, as the Lunar New year holiday – normally a time for happiness and reunions with family – saw cities across the country go into lockdown to prevent the disease from spreading.



It has also seen many turn to new technology and the internet for information on how to combat the virus and to carry out daily necessities, such as shopping and work.

During the Spring Festival holiday more than five million Wuhan residents – almost half of the city’s entire population – travelled to other parts of the country, making it nearly impossible to contain the fast-spreading virus.

The impact of the countrywide lockdown on the economy, with offices, factories and schools closed, has the potential to cut China’s gross domestic product growth in the first quarter from 6 per cent to 4.5 per cent, its weakest since records began in 1990, according to a Reuters poll.

Trade tensions with the US, including the blacklisting of telecoms champion Huawei Technologies by Washington, have seen China step up efforts to become more self-reliant when it comes to core technologies. Now the coronavirus outbreak has turned the country into a large testing ground to show the capabilities of its tech sector.

The goal is not only to combat the deadly virus through disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment, but also guarantee the continuation of normal daily life by enabling services such as online education and health care consultations amid the lockdown of multiple cities.

“A lot of technologies have played a very important role in containing the coronavirus outbreak,” said Zhong Zhenshan, IDC’s vice-president of emerging technology research. “In return, this will largely enrich the application scenarios of emerging technologies in China and will promote the development of the entire market.”

With an estimated incubation period of up to 14 days, the deadly coronavirus was able to rapidly spread during the holiday period. However, unlike the Sars outbreak in 2003, authorities now have at their disposal effective means to monitor and police citizens to try and limit the spread of the virus – thanks to new technology.

Last week, China’s State Council gave its backing to the launch of a coronavirus app that tells people whether they have been in proximity to anyone reported to be infected. The app draws on public transport records, including trains and flights, where booking a seat requires customers to input their national identification number.

In a similar vein, China is assigning citizens QR codes that will indicate whether they are at risk of contracting the coronavirus and need to self-quarantine. Millions of people in Hangzhou, the city where this system has already started as a pilot, have been using the system via the Alipay app, operated by Alibaba Group Holding affiliate Ant Financial Services.

Those with a “green” code can travel freely, while those with “red” must undergo a 14-day quarantine and those with a “yellow” code need seven days of quarantine. The national system was created “under the guidance” of the State Council and has been adopted in over 100 cities, according to an Alipay statement.

Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.

Artificial intelligence-powered facial recognition is widely used across China for applications ranging from spotting criminals on the run to authorising payments at cashier-less supermarkets. Now AI companies like Baidu and SenseTime are adapting their algorithms to identify “maskless” people in an effort to police people wearing masks in public places.



“In a subway station, there will be a notification in the system that there is a person without a mask. In offices, the name of the employee can be displayed if they [enter the building] not wearing a mask,” said a SenseTime spokeswoman.

“We have more data this time compared with Sars nearly 20 years ago,” said C K Lu, senior research director at Gartner. “This does not mean that machines can replace humans. But machine learning can provide advice for the government to devise the best strategy to contain the outbreak.”

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up Yitu Technology, telecoms gear provider Huawei and Alibaba are offering AI-backed services to help analyse the computerised axial tomography (CAT) scans used by hospitals to diagnose patients suspected to have the coronavirus.

Usually, it takes a doctor from 5 to 15 minutes to analyse a CAT scan of one suspected patient, which could include more than 300 images, to come up with a clinical diagnosis, whereas Alibaba said its new algorithm can complete the recognition process within 20 seconds, alleviating pressure on hospitals.

China’s tech companies have shown how swift application and reworking of existing solutions can be deployed to not only quickly analyse and diagnose a huge number of medical images, but also to provide medical support and advice to the whole country during the lockdown, said Bhvita Jani, senior analyst of health care technology at IHS Markit.

Alibaba Cloud’s AI-powered computing platform is collaborating with a team led by Zhong Nanshan, the well-known Chinese doctor who fought against Sars, to accelerate viral gene-sequencing, protein-screening and conduct other research in treating or preventing the virus.

Similarly, China’s national AI champion SenseTime is working with the National Supercomputing Centre in Shenzhen to provide high-performance computing to support researchers in large-scale screening of potential drugs to fight new coronaviruses and for predicting virus mutations.

“AI is going to have a big impact on developing a cure for the virus,” said Edgar Perez, author of The AI Breakthrough. “It's going to be very helpful to develop something that is going to be new for the coronavirus but still rely on the experience of researchers in the past who have worked on similar diseases such as Mers, or Sars.”

In fact, humans have been fighting the outbreak of deadly viruses for centuries, long before Sars killed nearly 800 people around the world. The most severe outbreak in the 20th century was the H1N1 pandemic in 1918, in which an estimated 500 million people – one-third of the world’s population at the time – became infected and at least 50 million died.

Without vaccines or even antibiotics available at that time, efforts to control the disease were limited to non-pharmaceutical interventions such as isolation and quarantine, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“China’s public health system is still in the early stage of digitisation,” IDC’s Zhong said. “Hospital investments in IT services are small … this epidemic can bring an improvement in hospitals’ digitisation and their acceptance of emerging technologies.”

The novel coronavirus, officially called Covid-19 by the World Health Organisation, is not only an opportunity to accelerate the digitisation of Chinese hospitals. It has also given a major boost to many new technologies and online services that people have started to use more as they remain largely confined at home.

Many who felt a deterioration in their health first turned to online medical consulting before they headed to a clinic or hospital to limit the risk of cross-infection.

Ping An Good Doctor, an online health care provider, said earlier this week that it recorded 1.11 billion visits to its platforms during the outbreak, with newly registered users growing 10 times.

Visits to medical-related mini-programs on Chinese super app WeChat rose 347 per cent over the past 20 days, compared to data recorded in December, according to official WeChat figures released on Monday.




“In the future, this painful lesson will definitely make great changes in the communication and coordination of data in the public health system. This will also cause many new technology companies to adapt to such changes. There will be many different applications blooming,” said Gartner’s Lu.

Catering robot companies like Pudu Technology and Shanghai-based Keenon Robotics originally began deploying their technology in restaurants to fill a labour shortage gap for service staff, but have now expanded the service to hospitals amid the health crisis.

“[The use of robots] reduces the intensive work of frontline medical staff and cuts the risk of cross infections. It is a particularly hard time for them,” said Zhang Tao, the founder and chief executive of Pudu Technology, a four year old start-up that has deployed its robots outside China in Singapore, South Korea and Germany.

Separately, many activities are moving online, providing new opportunities for online education providers and fresh food delivery platforms. The average daily internet usage of Chinese people rose to 7.3 hours a day in the week after the Lunar New Year holiday, or 30 minutes more per day than during the holidays, according to a Questmobile report on Tuesday.

The number of people watching online videos and using internet-based education apps has increased 24.3 million and 23.8 million per day respectively, while apps designed to improve working efficiency have gained nearly 40 million more daily active users since the onset of the outbreak during the Lunar New Year holiday, according to Questmobile.

On February 10, the first day schools were meant to open after the extended holiday, 600,000 teachers conducted online classes for 50 million students using the live-streaming service of Dingtalk, Alibaba’s enterprise messaging app.

The growth in online apps is being driven by millions of people trying to continue life as usual even while confined to home. Food delivery giant Meituan Dianping said the daily sales volume of fresh food ordered by customers in Beijing is now two to three times higher than before the Spring Festival holiday.

Like many young Chinese, Shanghai resident Wang Ying, 25, used to order cooked food online but rarely used apps for online deliveries of fresh food until the outbreak made her feel unsafe about going to the local market.




However, when using Dingdong Maicai, an online fresh food platform, she often found that green, leafy vegetables had sold out by the time she woke up at 9am or 10am. Now Wang sets an alarm so she can order earlier. “But I still need to choose quickly or they will be sold out,” she added.

Robotic deliveries of fresh food door-to-door may be a reality one day, but meantime the catering robots that engineer Zhang Ge and his colleagues installed in hospitals are doing their small part to combat China’s biggest health crisis in modern times.

Zhang has no regrets about going to the epicentre of the outbreak even though his mother was against the idea at the beginning and worried about his safety. “When I look back, I will feel good about myself for standing up and doing something meaningful to help,” he said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

London Daily
0:00
0:00
Close
Unelected PM of the UK holds an emergency meeting because a candidate got voted in… which he says is a threat to democracy…
You Are So Beautiful
Rob Schneider explains California reparations legislation.
Postmodern Jukebox European Tour Version
Who knew badminton could get so intense?
An old French tune (by Georges Brassens) Pomplamoose ft. John Schroeder
Farmers break through police barriers in Brussels.
Sattahip Motor Show 20
London's Iconic British Telecom Tower Sold To Become Hotel
SONATE AU CLAIR DE LUNE - Moonlight sonata
Ukraine Arrests Father-Son Duo In Lockbit Cybercrime Bust
A kiss to build a dream on
US Offers $15 Million For Info On Leaders Of Cybercrime Group Lockbit
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton (Boyce Avenue acoustic cover)
Russia Claims UK Cultural Agency Spied for Ukraine
Mean Blues
Apple warns against drying iPhones with rice
La Chansonnette
Alexei Navalny: UK sanctions Russian prison chiefs after activist's death
Pattaya Addicts
German economy is in 'troubled waters' - ministry
Franz Liszt - Liebestraum - Love Dream
In a recent High Court hearing, the U.S. argued that Julian Assange endangered lives by releasing classified information.
Dream a little dream of me
New video
Unchained Melody sung like you've NEVER heard!
Tucker Carlson says Boris Johnson wants "a million dollars, in Bitcoin or cash, from Tucker Carlson to talk about Ukraine.
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
Russia is rebuilding capacity to destabilize European countries, new UK report warns
Édith Piaf - Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien (Sofie)
EU Commission wants anti-drone defenses at Brussels HQ
Rondo Alla Turca
Von der Leyen’s 2nd-term pitch: More military might, less climate talk
Kiss of fire
Global Law Enforcement Dismantles Lockbit Ransomware Operation
Tom Jones - I´ll Never Fall In Love Again 1967, 1989, 2001
Prince William Urges End to Gaza Conflict
Israel Cachao López - Guajira Clásica
UK court to hear Assange's final appeal against extradition to the US, where he faces charges related to his journalistic work—the publication of a classified video in 2010 that exposed US war crimes against humanity.
Edward Maya - Stereo Love (feat. Vika Jigulina) (Extended Mix)
About 50-60% kids either chose to be YouTuber or influencer
Strauss - Radetzky March - Karajan
A viral video of Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce lying on a Canberra footpath is celebrated by his media mates.
La vie en rose
European Countries React to Navalny's Death by Summoning Russian Diplomats
The Temptations - My Girl (Smokey Robinson Tribute) 2006 Kennedy Cent
Israel has gone ‘beyond self-defence’ in Gaza, says Labour’s Streeting
Orlando Cachaito Lopez Redencion
English farmers to be offered ‘largest ever’ grant scheme amid food security concerns
Edith Piaf - NON, JE NE REGRETTE RIEN
Cameron government knew Post Office ditched Horizon IT investigation
RADETZKY MARCH-2008-Wien, New Year Concert
EU Calls for Immediate Ceasefire in Gaza Conflict
Only you (And you alone)
EU Vows To Hold Putin "Accountable" After Meeting Alexei Navalny's Wife
Strangers In The Night
EU Launches Probe Into TikTok Over Child Protection Under Digital Content Law
Charles Aznavour - La Boheme
The EU Initiates Naval Mission to Defend Red Sea Trade Routes
Summer time
EU and UK Announce Joint Effort on Migration
Sting and Stevie Wonder - Fragile (from Sting's 60th birthday concert)
Brazil's Lula Likens Gaza Operation to Holocaust, Israel Says "Red Line" Crossed
Aux Champs Elysees
Ministers Confirm Proposal to Prohibit Mobile Phone Usage in English Schools
Stand By Me - Ben E. King (Boyce Avenue acoustic cover)
Microsoft-backed OpenAI valued at $80bn after company completes deal
La Mer (Beyond the Sea) – Avalon Jazz Band
‘Alexei would want to tell Russia not to give up fighting’
She
Rwandan Footballer's Dismissal Sparks Concerns Over UK Asylum Plan
Nathalie Song by Enzo Petrachi Stjepan Hauser Cello
Whisky Challenges China's Baijiu Market During New Year Celebrations
Shape of My Heart - Sting (Boyce Avenue acoustic cover)
Avdiivka - Symbol Of Ukrainian Resistance Now In Control Of Russian Troops
Radiohead - Creep
Putin Critic Alexei Navalny's "Killers" Refusing To Hand Over Body, Say Allies
Quizás,Quizás,Quizás - Andrea Bocelli - Jennifer Lopez
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps - Multi-Couples
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
Pentatonix Havana
20 Tech Giants Sign Effort To Fight AI Election Interference Across Globe
Paula Cole - Autumn Leaves
Joe Biden Accuses Putin of Causing Navalny's Death
Oscar Benton Bensonhurst Blues
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has died at the Arctic prison colony
OH NANANA vs ABUSADAMENTE
Tucker Carlson grocery shopping in Russia. This is so interesting.
Nina Simone - ”I Put A Spell On You”. Vezi aici cum cântă Jeremy Ragsd
Julian Assange's Wife Warns of His Death if Extradited to US
NIGHTWISH - The Phantom Of The Opera
‘A lot higher than we expected’: Russian arms production worries Europe’s war planners
Motorshow 2016 Tanjay Negros Oriental
Greece Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage and Adoption Rights
Monica Bellucci - Ti Amo
Hungarian Foreign Minister: Europeans will lose Europe, the Union's policy must change drastically
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean Milena The Voice France 2018
In Britain Homeowners are receiving CPO’s (Compulsory Purchase Orders) so their homes can be redistributed to migrants
Michael Buble (Help Me Make It Through The Night) feat Loren Allred
Memories Canon In D - Maroon 5 (Boyce Avenue piano acoustic cover)
Matteo Simoni - Marina
Maroon 5 - One More Night
Maroon 5 - Memories
Mark Knopfler - Brothers In Arms (Berlin 2007 Live)
Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - Romeo And Juliet (Real Live Roadrunni
Marina, Marina - The LUCKY DUCKIES intimist live concert at Guimarães
Major Lazer & DJ Snake – Lean On Mauranne The Voice France 2016
Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet - Joslin - Henri Mancini, Nino Rota
LoLa & Hauser - Love Story
Linkin Park Jay-Z - Numb Encore (Live 8 2005)
Hallelujah Mennel Ibtissem, The Voice France Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen - Dance Me to the End of Love
Leonard Cohen & Natasha Rostova - Dance me to the end of love
La casa de papel - Bella Ciao
La Camisa Negra
L'italiano (Toto Cutugno) - The Gypsy Queens
Juanes - La Camisa Negra
Jonathan and Charlotte - Britain's Got Talent 2012 Live Semi Final - U
John Powell - Assassin's Tango
Joe Cocker - You Can Leave Your Hat On (LIVE in Dortmund)
Joe Cocker - Unchain My Heart 2002 Live
Joe Cocker - A Whiter Shade Of Pale
Jay Z & Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind LIVE
Jason Mraz - Im Yours (live)
Jarrod Radnich - Bohemian Rhapsody - Virtuosic Piano Solo
James Blunt - You're Beautiful
James Blunt - You're Beautiful & Bonfire Heart (Live at The Nobel Peac)
If You Go Away - Helen Merrill & Stan Getz (Tribute to Virna Lisi)
I'LL BE MISSING YOU
I Say a Little Prayer
Hotel California ( Eagles ) 1994 Live
Historia de un amor - Luz Casal. Vezi interpretarea Biancăi Sumanariu
Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles (Boyce Avenue acoustic cover) on Spot
Heart - Stairway to Heaven Led Zeppelin - Kennedy Center Honors
HAVANA by Camila Cabello Zumba Pre Cooldown TML Crew Kramer Pastra
HAUSER and Señorita - I Will Always Love You
HAUSER - Waka Waka
HAUSER - Sway
HAUSER - Lambada
HAUSER - Historia de un Amor
HAUSER - Despacito
Great Pretender
Georgia May Foote & Giovanni Pernice Samba to 'Volare' - Strictly Come
Gary Moore - Still Got The Blues
GIPSY KINGS VOLARE Penelope Cruz
Fugees - Killing Me Softly With His Song
French Latino - Historia de un Amor
For A Few Dollars More The Danish National Symphony Orchestra (Live)
Flashdance • What a Feeling • Irene Cara
Filip Rudan - “Someone You Loved” Audicija 4 The Voice Hrvatska Sez
Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight
Enya - Only Time
Enrique Iglesias - Bailando (English Version) ft. Sean Paul
Enrique Iglesias - Bailamos
Elena Yerevan Historia de un amor
Ed Sheeran - Shape of You (Official Music Video)
Ed Sheeran - Perfect Symphony [with Andrea Bocelli]
Ed Sheeran - Perfect (Official Music Video)
Easy On Me - Adele (Boyce Avenue 90’s style piano acoustic cover) on S
ERA - Ameno
ELENA YEREVAN- Cancion Del Mariachi-IN STUDIO-2017 DPR
Dust In The Wind - Kansas (Boyce Avenue acoustic cover)
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Despacito x Shape Of You - Pentatonix
Deep Purple - Child In Time - Live (1970)
David Foster When A Man Loves A WomanIt's A Mans World (SealMichael Bo
Dance me to the end of Love ( Pi-Air Design )
Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise (feat. L.V.) [Official Music Video]
Conquest Of Paradise (Vangelis), played on Böhm Emporio organ
Cielito Lindo
Chico & The Gypsies - Bamboleo
Canción Del Mariachi - Antonio Banderas, Los Lobos • Desperado
Camila Cabello - Havana (Audio) ft. Young Thug
Camila Cabello - Havana ( cover by J.Fla )
California Dreamin' - The Mamas & The Papas José Feliciano (Boyce Ave
Buster Benton - Money Is The Name of The Game
Hallelujah Pentatonix
Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry Be Happy (Official Music Video)
Bob Dylan - Knockin' On Heaven's Door Emilia The Voice Kids France
Besame Mucho - Cesaria Evora
Ben E. King - Stand by Me Sax Cover Alexandra Ilieva Thomann
Bella Ciao
Bella Ciao - INSTRUMENTAL
Beautiful in White x Canon in D (Piano Cover by Riyandi Kusuma)
Bad Romance - Vintage 1920's Gatsby Style Lady Gaga Cover ft. Ariana Savalas & Sarah Reich(1)
BELLA CIAO 2020 - KARAOKE ITALIANO
BAMBOLEO - Gipsy Kings • Antonio Banderas, Katya Virshilas
BAILANDO (original)
Awesome Ukrainian yodeler - SOFIA SHKIDCHENKO (with English subtitles)
Avicii - The Nights
Atom - The Great Gig in the Sky
Aretha Franklin - (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (Official Ly
Antonio Banderas - Cancion del Mariachi (Desperado)
André Rieu - Zorba's Dance (Sirtaki)
André Rieu - Can't Help Falling In Love
André Rieu & Mirusia - Ave Maria
Andrew Reyes Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down The Voice 2020 (
Andreas Kümmert Whiter Shade Of Pale The Voice of Germany 2013 Showd
And I Love You So
All About That Bass - Postmodern Jukebox European Tour Version
Alan Walker - Faded (Piano Cover)
Ain't No Sunshine -- Bill Withers (cover by Canen 12 y.o.)
African music
Adriana Vidović - “Creep” Audicija 4 The Voice Hrvatska Sezona 3
Adriana Vidović - “Believer” Nokaut 3 The Voice Hrvatska Sezona 3
A Fistful of Dollars - The Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Tuva
4 Beautiful Soundtracks Relaxing Piano [10min]
2CELLOS - Whole Lotta Love vs. Beethoven 5th Symphony [OFFICIAL VIDEO]
2CELLOS - Smooth Criminal (Live at Suntory Hall, Tokyo)
2CELLOS - Smells Like Teen Spirit [Live at Sydney Opera House]
2CELLOS - Despacito [OFFICIAL VIDEO]
13 Year Old Girl Playing Il Silenzio (The Silence) - André Rieu
094.All About That Bass
00 - SADNESS PART 1
(Ghost) Riders In the Sky (American Outlaws Live at Nassau Coliseum, 1
(Everything I Do) I Do It For You - Bryan Adams (Boyce Avenue ft. Conn
What a wonderful world
Moon river
×