Beijing residents make nucleic acid testing fun, convenient by getting creative

At a nucleic acid testing site in Beijing, a high school student pasted dozens of stickers with ancient Chinese poems on them onto the ground to create signs that could remind residents to remain 2 meters apart from each other while in line for nucleic acid testing. According to local COVID-19 control policies, residents are required to keep at least 1 meter apart from each other while in line for nucleic acid testing. This creative approach was well received among many residents.

Stickers with ancient Chinese poems on them are seen on the ground and which serve as signs to remind residents to remain 2 meters apart from each other while in line for nucleic acid testing at a residential community in Beijing. (Beijing Daily/Wang Haixin)

At a nucleic acid testing site in the Jinsongxi neighborhood of Chaoyang district in Beijing, Chinese characters which read “stay strong” and “victory,” accompanied by a variety of interesting pictures, can be seen in areas between the 2-meter marks on the ground and serve the same purpose as reminders.

“Lining up to wait for nucleic acid testing is boring. When we saw some kids drawing pictures on the ground, we thought it would be a good idea to entertain residents with the characters and pictures when they wait for nucleic acid testing,” said a staff member with the neighborhood office.

Photo shows children writing Chinese characters reading “victory” on the ground at a nucleic acid testing site in the Jinsong neighborhood of Chaoyang district in Beijing. (Photo courtesy of the Jinsongxi neighborhood office of Chaoyang district in Beijing)

An 11-year-old student named Zhao Ziyue from Beijing’s Haidian district built a device that can help staff members register the personal information of residents at nucleic acid testing sites more conveniently and efficiently.

Zhao Ziyue shows the device he built by himself. (Photo courtesy of a residential community in Haidian district of Beijing)

With the device, residents living at the local residential community will first place their ID cards, which they must carry during nucleic acid testing, in a designated place on the device, and then the staff members can use their smartphones to scan the ID cards more accurately, which can improve registration efficiency.

Photo shows Shang Kaijie, a seven-and-half-year-old boy reminding his neighbors to take part in nucleic acid testing. (Photo courtesy of the Yongdingmenwai neighborhood office of Beijing’s Dongcheng district)

Shang Kaijie, a seven-and-half-year-old boy in Beijing’s Dongcheng district has played his part in efforts to organize his neighbors to take part in nucleic acid testing by using a loudspeaker to remind them to do so. A nursery rhyme chanted by the boy was repeatedly broadcast via a loudspeaker to remind residents to take part in nucleic acid testing.

(Photo courtesy of the Xiaguan neighborhood office of Beijing’s Haidian district)

A female resident from a neighborhood in Beijing’s Haidian district drew pictures showing the moments when her neighbors were lined up and waiting for nucleic acid testing while volunteers were meanwhile busy organizing residents to take part in the latest round of testing. The vivid pictures have won praise from local residents.