By YOSHIKAZU HIRAI/ Correspondent
February 4, 2020 at 16:37 JST
BEIJING--Companies, schools and government offices in China have adopted a “zero contact” policy to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, leading to precise procedures for such normally routine things as delivering fried chicken.
The coronavirus is believed to spread mainly through droplets released when an infected person coughs or sneezes. To break the chain of infection, some guidelines recommend that humans stay at least 2 meters apart.
The 2-meter rule was strictly followed for a delivery of Kentucky Fried Chicken ordered by an Asahi Shimbun correspondent on the morning of Feb. 3 in Beijing.
The deliverer didn’t bring the food to the door. Instead, he maintained a distance of 2 meters from the correspondent and placed a box containing the meal on the street.
“Stay away from me,” the deliverer gestured while removing the food and placing it on top of the box.
He then stepped 2 meters from the box and signaled the correspondent to collect the food.
After the correspondent picked up the food and stepped back 2 meters, the deliverer picked up the box and left.
The fast food chain company has used this “contactless service” process since Jan. 30.
For delivery services, customers and staff members usually do not come into contact because orders and payments are done over smartphones.
However, KFC has made efforts to minimize the infection risk in the “handing over the food” process by implementing the 2-meter rule.
High schools around China have resumed classes for senior students who expect to take college entrance exams in four months. But instead of gathering in classrooms, the students are taught at home through internet broadcasts and videotaped lessons.
To discourage people from overwhelming hospitals and clinics and potentially spreading the disease, drones are used at some apartment complexes in the city of Yichun in Jiangxi province to check on the health of residents.
After being notified by a loudspeaker, the residents are expected to stick their heads out of a window, allowing a thermography-equipped drone to take their temperatures.
Government offices have also adopted a “zero contact” approach.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Feb. 3 started holding its regular news conferences over the internet to “secure the good health of reporters.”
The ministry has offered a question-and-answer session using a group chat app called Weixin.
China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued a nationwide notice to law enforcement officials to “avoid face-to-face interrogations of suspects as much as possible.”
Instead, prosecutors should conduct their investigations by phone calls, video chats and writing, the authority said.
The Public Security Bureau has also called on Chinese citizens to use the internet for claims concerning minor traffic accidents.
If a person involved in an accident takes pictures of the scene and sends them and other evidence to police using an app, a decision on matter will be delivered to the person’s smartphone.
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Under a new policy implemented by Kentucky Fried Chicken, a customer and a deliverer try to keep a 2-meter distance from each other in Beijing on Feb. 3. (The Asahi Shimbun)
