DAVAO City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said the city will be implementing its quick response (QR) code system in November 2020, which is eyed to help in the city's Covid-19 contact tracing effort.
“By November, mahimo na nang mandatory tanan sa Davao City [ang QR code]. Mao ni siya ang usa sa mga moves nato para mapaspas nato ang atoang contact tracing," Duterte-Carpio said on Friday, October 9, in a radio interview via 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
(By November, the QR code system will be mandatory in the city. This is our latest move in fast-tracking our contact tracing efforts.)
The mayor said Davao City already coordinated with a developer outside the city to create the system in four weeks.
Once it is fully implemented, she said the city will be able to determine the public's movement and travel history of an individual, especially of an infected person. It will also identify those who may have been in close contact or exposed to an infected person.
"Ang success ani will be dependent sa support sa atong mga offices and establishments because they are required nga tanan mosulod ipa-scan nila ang QR Code, and that QR Code will store a 14-day data sa kadtong tao,” the mayor said.
(The success of its implementation will depend on the support of offices and establishments because they will be requiring everyone entering their premises to secure a QR code that will be scanned. The data of that person will be stored for 14 days.)
The mayor said the City will be issuing an executive order in the following weeks where the provisions and other important guidelines will be placed. This will include the processes of securing the QR code.
Duterte-Carpio previously said implementing a QR code system in the city is a challenge due to its large area.
The mayor said she had hesitations of implementing it since people will find loopholes in its implementation.
In a previous radio interview, Duterte-Carpio said the city is considering publishing specific areas based on the history of exposure of individuals who tested positive for the coronavirus.
She said publishing a more specific area based on patient history will make other people extra cautious about their travels around Davao City.
She said it is a challenge for the city to determine specific areas the patients visited as some of them could not recall where they have been anymore.
"Ang makuha lang nato karon is ang ma-remember lang sa mga tao, and kato lang gusto mga isulti sa tao (the information we only get from our contact tracing are only information or places that they can recall. Some are not even honestly disclosing the places they visited)," Duterte-Carpio said.
The mayor said this is also the reason why the city is pushing for the QR code system, as it will give a more comprehensive list of the places the infected or suspected patient had traveled.
The City Government is currently conducting a test run on the QR code system for passengers arriving at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport, also known as the Davao International Airport, from October 7 to 11. The QR code system will be mandatory for all inbound passengers beginning October 12.
The measure aims to improve health safety at the airport.
Among the issues that needed to be addressed are the convenience of passengers, the wellness and safety of frontliners, and the speed of detecting passengers positive for the Covid-19 virus and those who were seated near them.
Duterte-Carpio said this process would not only help in the city's contact tracing efforts but will also add more convenience to the passengers.
The mayor added since transactions would be faster, airports could accommodate more flights.
"Kung mapaspas nato ang processing sa isa ka flight, mas mapaspas nato ang padaghan og flights na ma-accommodate sa Davao International Airport (if we would also be able to improve the processing in a certain flight, this would also give us more opportunities to accommodate more flights at the Davao International Airport)," she said.
It can be recalled that Davao del Norte was the first to implement a QR code system in the region through the Davao del Norte Covid-19 Contact Tracing System (DCCTS).
DCCTS is an electronic tracking system launched to help the local government unit in its Covid-19 contact tracing, as each person is required to bring their QR code when entering an establishment.