What’s trending?

On Jan. 6, a video showing an elderly person in Fushun, Liaoning Province, being kicked off a bus because he failed to show the driver a green Covid-19 health code, went viral on Chinese social media with related hashtags being viewed over 100 million times.

What’s the story?

According to Covid-19 prevention and control regulations in Liaoning, all residents should sign up for a digital health QR code which shows where they have been and their health status. If someone has travelled to a high-risk place or has had Covid-19 symptoms in the past 14 days, his or her code turns red. Under normal circumstances, the code is green. Only those with green codes can get into public places such as cinemas, malls, banks and buses.

Some people, especially the elderly, do not have access to smartphones which can generate the all-important QR code. In November, the State Council addressed this issue, saying government bodies should “combine traditional ways and intelligent innovation.” In last December, the Liaoning government required hospitals to enable people without smartphones to report travel histories and health conditions on paper.

But as shown in the bus video, despite the old man saying he had filled in a form to prove he was safe to travel, the driver kicked him off anyway for not being able to show a digital pass.

On Jan. 7, one day after the video was uploaded, the bus company said it would no longer require elderly passengers to show the health QR code.

What are people saying online?

Most online commenters found the driver and other passengers arrogant. “These people acted like they don’t have any elderly relatives. What if the old man didn’t have any kids to teach him to get a code on a smartphone? Be nice, people,” said one Weibo user.

But some also said that given the current increasingly severe virus outbreak in Northern China, the driver did what he had to do. One popular comment read, “Why everyone is ranting at the driver? The driver was only doing his job. Shouldn’t we be mad at those who make the imperfect regulations?”

Related: North China City Locked Down Amid Virus Flare-Up