A technical glitch hit the Macau Health Code system yesterday morning and afternoon, preventing smartphone users from generating their health code, according to statements by the Health Bureau (SSM).
According to local media reports, the malfunction resulted in long queues outside and near the Barrier Gate border checkpoint.
Due to the situation, the Public Security Police (PSP) urged border crossers to use other Macau-Zhuhai checkpoints.
Macau-Zhuhai border crossers must generate and display a health code when crossing the border, which is used to display their state of health, travel history and COVID-19 nucleic acid test (NAT) result.
A Health Bureau statement yesterday morning confirmed that a technical flaw “suddenly” affected the Macau Health Code system at around 7:35 a.m. yesterday, adding that the breakdown “lasted for a while”.
Several residents told The Macau Post Daily yesterday that the crash in the morning lasted for about three hours.
According to Health Bureau statement in the afternoon, another technical mishap occurred at around 2:45 p.m., lasting around 30 minutes.
Yesterday afternoon’s statement said that according to the findings of a preliminary investigation, the defect was due to an “abnormally sudden” increase in data usage and transmission on the Macau Health Code system within a short period of time, which blocked the system’s servers.
The Health Bureau also said that it was still identifying the more fundamental causes of the malfunction.
Neither the Health Bureau nor the Public Security Police said how many residents including border crossers were affected by the system failure.
Border crossers walk to the Barrier Gate checkpoint yesterday morning en route to Zhuhai. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
