Robots ... are Chinese soldiers in their war against the Corona virus

China is working to counter the new Corona virus, using all the latest technologies, from robots, artificial intelligence, cameras that use ultraviolet radiation and face recognition technology.

The Chinese authorities are racing against time to contain the new virus, which has infected more than 34,000 people and caused more than 700 deaths in China.

Chinese technology companies have developed several applications that help people make sure they are on board the plane or train with sick casualties onboard, according to lists published on official media.

And Xinhua released photos of robots, which will participate in the medical logistics service, in the northeastern city of Shenyang, to combat the new Corona virus.

For example, a man who traveled to Wuhan, from which the new Coruna virus spread, was surprised when Chinese police knocked on the door of his house in Nanjing and asked to measure his temperature.

The man who isolated himself at his home in Nanjing in Jiangsu Province said he had not told anyone about his recent visit to Wuhan.

But by using travel data from Wuhan, the authorities were able to identify him and send police officers to his home last week, according to a report published by the Nanjing government in a newspaper.

In Guangzhou, southern Guangdong Province, the authorities deployed robots to reprimand pedestrians who did not wear protective masks, according to the official Global Times.

In Beijing, a committee responsible for an apartment complex of about 2,400 families said it had used flight and train data to track everyone’s recent travel records.

In a statement posted on the Internet Tuesday, the Chinese National Health Commission asked local governments to "use large data technology to track and monitor important cases and to expect the epidemic to develop effectively and simultaneously."

She called for "strengthening the link of information between (... sectors) public security, transportation and other departments", while recommending the sharing of train, aircraft, communications and medical data.

Fever detection technology
At a time when the Chinese authorities are searching for possible infections, the focus has been on detecting fever, the most common symptom of the disease.

While neighborhoods and government buildings rely mainly on portable thermometers, public transport authorities are testing systems for detecting fever via artificial intelligence and ultraviolet cameras.

In Beijing, a system developed by giant Chinese company Baidu monitors travelers at Qinghai Train Station using ultraviolet radiation and face recognition technology, which automatically captures each person's face.

In the event that a person's body temperature reaches 37.3 degrees Celsius or more, the system sounds a siren that warrants further examination by station staff.

On Thursday, train station staff carrying red and white loudspeakers instructed passengers from northern Shanxi Province to move slowly as they passed the "Baidu" system.

The company indicates that its system is able to scan more than two hundred people per minute, that is, at a speed that far exceeds the heat detectors used in airports.

The artificial intelligence company Megeve, which Washington listed in October on its blacklist for allegedly violating human rights, has developed a similar system that is currently being used at a Beijing express train station.

"Having a team of about a hundred people working together remotely from their homes was not an easy thing," a spokesman for "Megeve" said in an emailed statement.

"They all worked around the clock during the Lunar New Year holiday," she added, noting that the team had to develop the company's mechanisms "to be able to effectively detect heat through only the forehead."

Wide services
In addition to detecting fever, Chinese technology companies have accelerated the development of a wide range of services to assist in efforts to contain the epidemic, ranging from preparing medical supplies to deliver drones to locating the spread of the virus from Wuhan.

Although the city has been under complete quarantine since January 23, about five million travelers have left Wuhan during the Lunar New Year festival, according to the city governor, which prompted the authorities to conduct nationwide searches for all who visited Wuhan recently.

However, most of the tracing operations by local authorities in China still require significant manpower, although some do enter data online to help record information, especially as residents return after the holiday.

In Beijing, some neighborhoods urge residents to scan the QR code to fill in private data, such as their phone numbers and addresses in their home cities, and a form requires participants to fill in details of the mode of transportation they used.

She also asks if they have visited Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located, recently or have contacted anyone from the region.