SANTIAGO: At Chilean copper mines, local employees no longer need to scan their fingerprints to get access to the facilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, facial recognition technology is used to reduce risks of infections from indirect contact.
Thanks to the support of the facial recognition technology from 19-year-old Chinese firm Hikvision, founded in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, Chile has installed over 700 thermal cameras for towns, mines and hospitals in the capital Santiago and other parts of the country.
So far, Chile has registered 319,493 COVID-19 cases nationwide, with 7,069 deaths, according to the country’s health ministry. In recent weeks, the ministry has reported an improvement in their efforts to fight the pandemic amid a decline in new cases. Samuel Ramirez, director of Business Development at Hikvision Chile, told Xinhua that the South American country wants to do all it can to promote social distancing and minimize viral spread while keeping up productivity during the pandemic.
Therefore, Chile has turned to solutions it saw being implemented in China, Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries, Ramirez said, adding that that is why Hikvision’s facial recognition technology was introduced into Chile. – Agencies
