QC gov’t to launch contact tracing app

Manila Bulletin – Published January 17, 2021, 7:10 PM

In a bid to boost its contact tracing efforts, the Quezon City government will launch a contact tracing application to be used by residents and workers of the city.

KyusiPass, an app powered by SafePass, will allow the city government to keep track of who is visiting each establishment in the city.

Instead of filling up health declaration forms, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said residents and workers of the city can just scan the QR code at the entrance of each establishment and information such as their names and mobile numbers will be automatically sent to the city government’s servers handled by the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CESU).

People who reside or work in Quezon City are required to get a personal QR code, which they can get by signing up on the SafePass website, SafePass Facebook chatbot, and through SMS.

The city government is already implementing the app in all its departments. Last week, it also trained security personnel on basic KyusiPass registration. It is also set to orient establishments on how to use the app in the coming days.

Quezon City Local Economic Investment Promotions Office (LEIPO) head Perry Dominguez said they are aiming to make the use of KyusiPass city-wide by the end of January.

“Given the size of our city, it will take us a few weeks to fully implement the use of this contact tracing app city-wide. Hopefully, before this month ends, all our businesses would have adopted this app through the widespread information campaign we will launch. Using this app will be more convenient for them, as well as for their customers,” he said in a statement released on Sunday, Jan. 17.

Data privacy is also ensured, as no businesses will be able to retrieve their guests’ personal data, Dominguez said.

CESU head Rolly Cruz explained that only the city government will have access to  visitors’ data, and assured residents that the data will only be retrieved when contact tracing is needed.

“Our QCitizens have nothing to worry about because their data will be protected and secured. Only us in CESU can access their information, and only if we need to trace the contacts of a ‘positive’ visitor from a specific establishment,” he said.

SOURCE: https://mb.com.ph/2021/01/17/qc-govt-to-launch-contact-tracing-app/