THE Davao City Government will establish a website for Covid-19 response after it received several complaints among residents that the its Covid-19 hotlines are not accessible, or their call gets passed around whenever they would call to ask for their swab results, seeking consultation on their current condition, or other Covid-19 concerns.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said the website will contain all the information related to the city's Covid-19 response.
“It has been discussed with the Davao City Covid-19 Task Force and we noticed na ang solusyon usually sa (that the solution usually in) information problem is to open a hotline. And then ang (the) usual problem is the people assigned there do not know how to handle the data and information kung unsa ilang buhaton (if what should they do). They are using numbers which can’t carry multiple polls and several hundreds of text messages. And that’s the problem with the hotlines. It is incorrect that whenever there are problems, hotlines ang ginabuhat (are made),” Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
She added that the existing hotlines have been unresponsive due to the increased traffic of calls and messages.
"That website should contain all information about Covid-19 apil na ang vaccination (and also includes vaccination). So that ang mga tao muadto nalang sila didto sa website. Online didto makuha ang info na kinahanglan nila (When they go to the website, all information they may need is available there),” Duterte-Carpio said.
She said the website will also intensify the city’s information campaign wherein it will contain all Covid-19 information, policies and regulations, and other response measures of the city.
She added the site will also solve the problem of the large volume of inquiries online pertaining to updates about Covid-19 situation in the city.
"This also solves the problem aning information nato is naa sa Facebook because sometimes it is difficult to scroll all through the post kung unsa ang tubag sa ilang pangutana," the mayor said.
The mayor said disinformation remains a challenge in the local government's Covid-19 response more than a year since the pandemic hit the city.
The mayor said the City Information Office has coordinated with a third party service provider in setting up the website.
She added the site is almost ready for launching, and the website is expected to be accessible within the week. (Carlos Joshua P. Arevalo, NDDU Intern/With reports from Ralph Lawrence G. Llemit)