Beijing Schools Use Smart-Bands to Track Students' Temperatures

By Bridget O'Donnell, May 25, 2020

As more students return to the classroom, schools are developing innovative technology to check for COVID-19 symptoms.

In Beijing, students in the city’s local school system are wearing body temperature-tracking bands as part of pandemic control and prevention measures. The intelligent bracelets are similar to popular fitness bands and are designed with built-in sensors that can issue alerts when a fever is detected.

Temperature bracelets trialed in Beijing
Image via Weibo

The bands were trialed as the first wave of middle and high school students returned to campus at the end of April, according to state-run newspaper China Daily.

Teachers use a mobile app to automatically record each and every student’s real-time body temperature stats simultaneously. The data is then sent to the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, according to the state-run Global Times. Only very basic personal information – student name and temperature – is reported.

If the bracelets detect temperatures exceeding 37.2 degrees Celsius, teachers can alert school authorities. Both parents and schools can monitor the temperature data.

Free of charge for all students, the bands use a small battery which don’t need to be charged. Students leave the bands at school once classes are done for the day.

This isn’t the only unique innovation we’ve seen schools deploy to fight the coronavirus outbreak. Earlier last month, photos of Hangzhou children wearing ‘social distancing hats’ in the classroom went viral, with social media users commending their creativity.

Screengrabs via Zhejiang Daily/Weibo