[Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Zhejiang province has been making full use of its big data technology to improve the control of COVID-19, ensure that important supplies are available, and allow companies to return to normal operations in an orderly manner.

With this technology, local authorities can know immediately where residents have returned from by simply checking their ID numbers, as passengers must scan their ID cards when entering or exiting railway stations.

At the beginning of the outbreak, Zhejiang used big data to discover that more than 300,000 local residents had traveled to Hubei province recently and immediately launched the first-level public health emergency response to search for infected patients.

Hangzhou used its City Brain urban management platform to share information between local health commissions and public security bureaus, especially information about those who had traveled from COVID-19-ravaged places.

Lishui used big data to monitor vehicles and passengers at expressway exits, learning where they came from, where they were headed, and why they were traveling. They shared the data with lower-level authorities in towns and counties.

Big data has also helped with the production of important supplies. Zhejiang Guancheng Technology Co, a manufacturer of medical nonwoven fabrics in Longyou county, Quzhou, faced labor shortages several days ago, but thanks to the county's big data bureau, the company was able to recruit 10 workers within one night and increase its production capacity to 10 metric tons per day.

In order to eliminate fake and low-quality masks from the market, the Zhejiang Market Supervision Bureau used internet monitoring technology to investigate illegal behavior among mask producers.

As employees begin returning to work, local authorities are also using data monitoring technology to ensure that companies can return to normal operations in an orderly manner.

Wuxing district, Huzhou established a whitelist to enable several major companies to resume work first, followed by other less important companies.

Zhejiang Dema Technology Corporation, one of the companies to resume work first, specializes in automatic logistics, and 80 percent of its workers are locals. The company generated 800 million yuan ($114.78 million) in output last year, 40 percent of which came from foreign orders.