Incheon City Expands QR Code Electronic Screening Questionnaire at Selective Clinics to All Districts and Counties

by Park Haesook

Published 19 Jul.2021 14:00(KST)

Citizens are lining up in a long queue to get tested at a temporary screening clinic. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City is expanding the operation of an electronic questionnaire system using QR codes at COVID-19 screening clinics.

According to the city on the 19th, the electronic questionnaire system, which has been piloted since last month in four districts/counties including Jung-gu, Yeonsu-gu, Namdong-gu, and Ongjin-gun, will be expanded to all 10 districts/counties in Incheon within this week.

The electronic questionnaire system operates by having test applicants scan a QR code at the clinic and fill out and submit an electronic questionnaire asking about their physical condition and other items.

This method reduces waiting times when there are many testers, lowering the risk of infection, and also reduces the workload of screening clinic staff compared to manually filling out questionnaires. It is also expected to reduce issues such as phone number input errors.

The expansion of the electronic questionnaire system was realized after a university student suggested it to Mayor Park Namchun of Incheon via SNS, and Mayor Park accepted it after review by relevant departments.

The student pointed out that the current screening clinic testing system proceeds in the order of waiting → questionnaire → sample collection → going home, and when there are many testers, waiting times become long and waiting areas become crowded, increasing the risk of COVID-19 infection during this process.

Mayor Park Namchun said, "A university student gave a good suggestion, and we actively accepted it," adding, "As the number of COVID-19 testers increases, we hope that expanding the QR code electronic questionnaire system will reduce infection risks on site and the workload of staff."