A DIGITAL contact tracing app for employees and consumers of business establishments in Quezon City is now required to further strengthen the city’s contact-tracing capability in the midst of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the city.
In revised guidelines issued by Mayor Joy Belmonte, employees of business establishments and their consumers must use the KyusiPass, a contact tracing app powered by SafePass.
Belmonte said the contact tracing app can help the city keep track of the visitors of every establishment within its jurisdiction.
The revised guidelines were issued in response to the latest issuances by the Inter-Agency Task Force and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
“As far as practicable, all business establishments in QC must use our Kyusi Pass app to make contact tracing easier and faster for early detection of the virus,” said Belmonte.
Under the latest guidelines, Belmonte ordered the business owners to secure a dedicated QR Code per establishment from the Business Permits and Licensing Department to tag its location.
“For clarity, a lessee inside a larger establishment, like individual stores inside malls, should have its own contact tracing log,” said Belmonte.
Establishments that rely on manual contact tracing must encourage their customers to bring their own pen for logging in their name, address, and contact number.
Digital copies of these logs should be readily available to the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CESU) for any given time should contact tracing be necessary.
Belmonte also directed that indoor cinemas, video and game arcades and theme parks and funfairs must remain closed pending evaluation of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the city.
The DTI, through its Memorandum Circular 21-08, has allowed the opening of movie houses in areas under general community quarantine starting March 5.
Belmonte, however, opted to choose on the side of caution amid the sudden surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the city.
“We are very alarmed by the latest spike in cases and we will not allow this surge to continue. We do not want to experience the ordeal of having all our hospitals overwhelmed by patients, so we will employ all means to stop it,” Belmonte stressed.
The city government will be observing the current trend in the number of cases before deciding whether to allow these establishments to operate or not.
Belmonte further ordered the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit to keep monitoring the surge as this may have been caused by the presence of new Covid-19 variants.
“We are now implementing stricter protocols in hotels used as quarantine facilities for returning OFWs and travelers. We are also coordinating more closely with the Bureau of Quarantine to see to it that the mandated 14-day quarantine period is strictly observed even if a negative swab test has been released,” Belmonte said.
In addition, the Department of Public Order and Safety will also deploy around 3,000 volunteers under the Barangay Disiplina Brigade program all over the city to strictly enforce all Covid-19 related ordinances.
Based on the latest guidelines, only persons 15-65 years will be allowed to go out. Those younger or older may leave home only for indispensable reasons.
Mass gatherings, on the other hand, shall remain prohibited except for purposes of essential work, government, humanitarian or religious service subject to minimum health protocols. These mass gatherings should use KyusiPass or if impractical, a physical log of attendees for contact tracing.
Passengers in public utility vehicles should be one seat apart while wakes at home also remain strictly prohibited.
Libraries, museums and cultural centers, as well as internet cafes and computer shops of at least 30 meters in size, may operate subject to minimum health standards.
Moreover, time-based restrictions on liquor sale is now lifted, but drinking outdoors or in sidewalks remain prohibited.
Open-air parks may operate at the discretion of their management for non-contact activities such as jogging, badminton and others provided health and safety protocols are observed.
Under the revised GCQ Guidelines, beerhouses, nightclubs, videoke/KTV bars and daycare centers or playhouses will remain closed.
