Vancouver-based tech company offering wearable tracking device in place of expensive hotel quarantine

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A Vancouver-based tech company says they’ve developed a cost-effective and comfortable solution for travellers who don’t want to be stuck with the high costs or go through the hassle of booking a government-approved quarantine hotel.

TraceSafe, a company specializing in innovative health and safety technology, has created wearable technology in the form of wristbands for quarantine monitoring.

Wayne Lloyd, CEO of TraceSafe explains even when government quarantine hotels are not required, the wristbands can help in making sure travel is safe.

“Well, the inbound travel quarantines have been pretty effective. Obviously, at the height of a pandemic, people didn’t want to have too much travel going on but you don’t want to restrict people from returning home or doing central business. Our technology has helped in a number of cases, provide a lower cost-effective solution that can be used that has been used both in combination or in the place of a hotel quarantine,” he tells NEWS 1130. “Now, we think that a hotel quarantine is a pretty effective way to do things, but there are obviously more cost-effective ways, and there’s just a trade-off there.”

Wayne Lloyd, CEO of @TraceSafeTech says the 'hospital style' wristband has been used successfully in place of government hotel quarantines in Hong Kong and Singapore. More on @NEWS1130

— Yasmin Gandham (@YasminGandham) March 7, 2021

Lloyd says even when government-approved hotel quarantines are a thing of the past, he thinks the technology could help assist in making travel safe as we transition to a ‘new normal.’

“I’d like to see [travel quratintine] continue as long as, as it is deemed necessary, but I think that over the long term we’re going to get back to travelling normally, hopefully. And if our technology could be used to help we hoped it would be used in a limited capacity that keeps everything going and the economy moving and everything else, but I think that if, if that were to happen, we would have solutions that would be very friction-reducing that could help.”

Lloyd adds, he would like to ensure the bracelet is not meant to ultimately restrict people but is meant to be temporary, “we can sort of get through this difficult time.”

The technology has been used in Hong Kong and Singapore so that the borders could stay open and people could quarantine without the use of a government quarantine hotel.

“[In Hong Kong … when they were instituting inbound travel and quarantine for 14 days. Our technology was integrated into the official app, and use really successfully to make sure the border stayed open people could come back to the country and safely isolate based on the health authority guidelines,” Lloyd explains.

The wristband is up for just over $100 compared to a government quarantine hotel which could cost as much as $2,000.