Beijing’s Official Health Kit App Available for Foreigners and Families

For weeks now, Beijingers have been relying on the official Beijing Health Kit app (健康宝) to prove that they are in good health and have completed the necessary 14-day quarantine in the capital. After its release, the app was quickly updated to allow users to query the health status for children and elderly family members who may not use smartphones, but until now, it was not available to foreigners without a Chinese ID.

Finally, a version of the app now allows users to log in using their passport. This will allow foreigners to easily show their official health status if questioned, and will solve issues that were caused by official guidelines that recommended that certain industries require customers to prove their status using the app. For ease of use, the app has also been translated into English.

Now that foreigners, as the final frontier of Beijing Health Kit inclusion, are able to use the app, it may finally become the ubiquitous resource for proving health status that the city had imagined, and may even replace the text message systems and other apps that pull from SIM card metadata to prove where they have been in the past 14 days. The health kit is more reliable proof, as it uses official identification rather than cell phone tower data.

For this reason, we recommend that you now use this app over the alternatives out there. Here’s how:

1. In WeChat, drag down on your chats to reveal the Mini-Program interface. In the search bar, type in ‘Health Kit’ to find the app. Enter the app, and select language as English (if preferred).
2. Press ‘log in’ to register your profile. Enter your name and passport number before taking a picture of your passport photo page.
3. Once you have registered, you can press ‘Query on me’ to display your status.
4. If you have completed your quarantine and are not suspected of infection, the app will display the message “No abnormal conditions.” It will also provide your name, passport number, as well as the time and date of the query. If you are asked to provide a QR code, you can press the blue and white icon in the top right corner.
5. For kids who may not have their own smartphone, you can press ‘Query on others’, then click ‘Add’. You will be prompted to fill in their certificate type (i.e. passport), Name, and Passport number, followed by a photo of the passport. You can add up to four dependents.

Stay safe and healthy, Beijingers!

This article first appeared on our sister site, The Beijinger.

Photo: Sohu