The Chinese government, in collaboration with tech giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd, is implementing a color-based coding system to track the health of individuals.

On Wednesday, the payment app Alipay launched a feature that assigns residents of Hangzhou a colored QR code representing their health status. The company plans to expand the feature nationwide.

Users fill out an online report with an ID number, their recent travel history, and any possible symptoms of an illness. After completing the form, they are issued colored QR codes on their phones.

The resulting QR codes determine how much contact residents are allowed with the general public.

The increasingly restrictive measures to contain the spread of the virus continue to expand; the Tencent Holdings Ltd-owned messaging app WeChat has introduced a QR code tracking feature.

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As the Coronavirus outbreak rages on, the Chinese government is implementing a system of colored QR codes in hopes of containing the spread of the illness, Reuters has reported.

On Wednesday, The Alibaba Group-owned payment app called Alipay launched a feature that assigns each resident of Hangzhou a QR code representing their health status. Users are instructed to fill out an online report, complete with an ID number, recent travel history, and a list of any possible symptoms of an illness. After completing the form, they are issued respective colored QR codes to their mobile phones.

QR codes, machine-scannable images that are instantly read using Smartphone cameras, are being employed in the Chinese government's attempt to contain the Coronavirus. Zhang Peng/ Getty Images

The resulting QR codes determine the extent of contact that residents are allowed to have with the general public. Those with red codes are required to remain in quarantine for 14 days — and to use the Alibaba-run chat app DingTalk to provide frequent updates on their health. Residents with yellow codes are instructed to stay indoors seven days. Those issued green codes are free to move about as they please.

Some Hangzhou residents say the new prevention measure is becoming increasingly restrictive. Two residents reported to Reuters that they have been required to show their QR codes to enter their apartment complexes and the local supermarket.

The QR codes, it seems, are here to stay. On Sunday, Alipay announced its plan to expand the feature nationwide.

Alipay is not the only tech company turning to a QR code solution. Messaging app WeChat, owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd, introduced a QR code tracking feature that has been piloted in the southern city of Shenzhen. A recent social media post from the company, Reuters reported, announced that the feature will be expanded across the Guangdong province.

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