THE Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EO-TF) will inspect the management of Transcom in Barangay Tangub Wednesday, February 3, to review their minimum health protocols and the standards of their operation inside the building.
Dr. Chris Sorongon, deputy for medical data and analysis of EOC-TF, said they served the 48 hours temporary shutdown of Transcom Tuesday, February 2, for the conduct of disinfection to their four buildings.
He said a notice of violation was also served to Transcom after they failed to impose the "Covid-19 Contact Tracing System Ordinance of Bacolod City."
On Sunday, January 31, the EOC Task Force confirmed that at least 41 employees of Transcom Bacolod in Barangay Tangub have tested positive for Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Of the 41, 33 of them are residents of Bacolod City, while eight others are from other towns and cities in Negros Occidental. All of them were already transferred to the quarantine facility.
Sorongon said they will meet with the management of Transcom because they will introduce some modification and recommend some changes to prevent similar incidents.
"We already served their notice of violation and they also promised that they will be compliant once they return operation after their shutdown," he said.
He added it was only a warning and once they committed the same offense, they will pay the penalties.
Under the ordinance, penalties ranging from P1,000, P2,500 and P5,000 and/or imprisonment for not more than six months for the first, second, third and succeeding offenses, respectively, await private establishments and government offices that fail to comply.
Sorongon noted that based on the records of Management Information Technology and Computer Services (MITCS), the Transcom along with five other business process outsourcing (BPO) companies in Bacolod City are not using the BaCTrac system within their premises.
"They were registered, but there's no record of activities. They are not scanning their BaCTrac or even doing a manual recording at the entrance," he said.
The "BaCTrac Contact Tracing System" is a web-based and mobile-based app developed for efficient and expeditious contact tracing of confirmed Covid-19 patients in the city and, consequently, allows the EOC Task Force to easily locate people suspected of having contact with Covid-19 patients.
Aside from not complying with the BaCTrac system, Sorongon said that some Transcom employees were not properly wearing their face masks, face shields and security is not tight in the entire complex, among others.
"This is a workplace transmission so we should not be complacent. It is important to strictly enforce the health protocols and use the BaCTrac," he said.
Sorongon said they have an ongoing on-the-spot inspection in various BPO companies to ensure their compliance with the BaCTrac ordinance and health protocols.