A WIRELESS magnetic door mechanism is being used at local communities to help manage households under quarantine during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic.

The Shanghai government has ordered mandatory 14-day home quarantine for those who return to the city from “key affected areas” of COVID-19, such as central China’s Hubei Province, but show no symptoms.

Local community workers are under great pressure to prevent those being quarantined from leaving their homes. They also need to check their temperatures daily and keep them supplied with necessities.

Those found with high temperature or other infection symptoms will be reported and sent for the required medical check or treatment, according to government regulations.

The wireless door magnet mechanism, which can be easily installed onto any door frame, will send an alarm to neighborhood committee and subdistrict officials automatically once the door of a quarantined household is opened. It will be removed as soon as the quarantine ends.

The high-tech gadget, initiated in Putuo District, is being promoted across the city to help local neighborhood committees amid the outbreak.

The Guiyangyuan Neighborhood in Caoyang Community, China’s first community built for model workers in the 1950s, was among the first to install such door catches for quarantined households.

The old neighborhood has over 400 households coming from coronavirus-hit regions.

Previously, each of eight neighborhood committee staff members had to work over 12 hours a day to visit and take care of 50 quarantined households.

Thanks to the Internet of Things device, they can now work more efficiently. Once a quarantined resident opens their door, the catch will send a message to their phones while also generating an alert for the subdistrict’s urban management system.

The new device is far more efficient than traditional management methods, such as paying visits frequently, said Chen Jian, Party secretary of the Guiyangyuan neighborhood committee.

The wireless door catch has also been used in suburban Jiading District.

Fifteen such devices have been installed on the door frames of quarantined out-of-towners in Anting Town, where an increasing number of people are returning to work as local companies resume operations.