THE Covid-19 Contact Tracing System Ordinance of Bacolod City is mandatory for all the business establishments or government offices in the city.
This was stressed by Councilor Renecito Novero on Sunday, November 15, 2020, after the city government implemented City Ordinance (CO) 941 or the Covid-19 Contact Tracing System Ordinance.
Novero said the CO 941 was implemented on November 12 and mandates all business establishments and government offices to register on the Bacolod City Covid-19 Contact Tracing (BaCTrac) system or to provide a manual logbook.
“They should provide logbook because (BaCTrac) is not mandatory to the private citizens. Not all individuals who are entering business establishments are from Bacolod City. So if they don’t have quick response (QR) code, they can write on the logbook,” he said.
As of November 12, a total of 6,611 business establishments and 340,358 persons in Bacolod City have registered in the BaCTrac system.
Business establishments that fail to comply will be fined from P1,000, P2,500, up to P5,000 and/or imprisonment for not more than six months for the first, second, third and succeeding offenses, respectively.
The Covid-19 Contact Tracing System Ordinance of Bacolod City, authored by Councilor Lady Gles Pallen, president of the Liga ng mga Barangay, covers all business establishments, government offices, residents and visitors within the territorial jurisdiction of Bacolod City, including public utilities and spaces, such as but not limited to, public markets, public terminals and public transport.
The "BaCTrac Contact Tracing System" is a web-based and mobile-based app developed for efficient and fast contact tracing of confirmed coronavirus-positive patients in the city. It also allows the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Task Force to easily locate persons suspected of having contact with coronavirus patients.
Novero said members of EOC were also tasked to monitor business establishments to penalize violators.
On September 29, the City Government officially launched the app that will enable Bacolod City to use the South Cotabato Covid Contact Tracing System.
To facilitate the app's use, Bacolod City residents and visitors into the city will be required to register online in the BaCTrac system. To register, one can visit www.bacolodcity.gov.ph and access the BaCTrac page.