Senior year students at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China in Beijing walk out of the school on Monday, their first day back school after stay-at-home learning for two months amid coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Yang Ruoyu/GT

Beijing started on Monday promoting a smart bracelet that can measure a student's temperature as some schools reopened and students began returning to class.

The city tested the intelligent temperature monitoring device among students in high schools and middle schools in five districts. 

Looking like a fitness wristband, the thermometer bracelet has a built-in sensor that can automatically take a student's real-time body temperature and issue an alert if an elevated reading is detected. 

The temperature data can also be stored and shared with parents, schools and authorities through a mobile phone app. 

The pilot program of the device was carried out in 18 high schools in Fengtai district among senior students and faculty members from April 30 to Friday, according to Beijing Municipal Education Commission.

Beijing Fengtai Second High School implemented the program on Thursday. Some 200 students in the graduating class use the bracelet every day. 

Students put on the bracelet at the noon break and an app on the teacher's phone will collect their temperatures. The teacher will submit the data to the Beijing Municipal Education Commission before afternoon classes begin, Li Yanjie, a teacher at Fengtai Second High School, told the Global Times on Monday.  

"Unlike thermometer guns and hand-written records, the bracelet detects and reports temperatures automatically, which is fast and convenient," she said. 

The whole process only takes minutes and will not interrupt classes. The bracelet also looks fashionable, a student told the Global Times. 

A student at Fengtai Second High School puts on a smart temperature-taking bracelet on Monday. Photo: Lin Luwen/GT

Students wear the bracelets during the noon break and leave them at school after classes are done.  

"The bracelet is used only for temperature detection. It only reports students' names and their temperatures, no other personal information," said Li. 

In Beijing, some 50,000 senior high school students went back to school on April 27. 

High-tech devices have been used to prevent spread of the virus on campus, such as infrared mass fever-screening systems and facial recognition systems without any need to remove their face masks.