In Logan's Run everyone is implanted with a life-clock crystal to ensure they can be identified when they have reached 30 and euthanized.

China seems to be heading in the same direction with its COVID underpants that sport a QR code that changes colour from green to red if you don't have all your COVID ducks in a row.

For example, you cannot board a high-speed train without showing a green QR code on your underpants. Checking this requirement is causing long lines on platforms as passengers are required to strip to their scants to prove they are free from the virus. Many people are taking to wearing their panties outside their leggings or trousers - Superman style - in order to save time.

Chinese underwear factories are working around the clock to churn out the dual-colour panties especially as the West is expected to introduce similar restrictions soon. There are strict regulations as to the specification of the panties - no decadent western thongs are allowed.

To reinforce the new regulations, President Xi is set to appear in an advert much like that for the Green Cross code man in 1970s Britain.