By Genalyn Kabiling
A new contact tracing system of suspected coronavirus cases will undergo pilot testing in Davao region and Parañaque City this week.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
(ACE MORANDANTE/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO/ MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
In his latest weekly report to Congress, President Duterte said the "enhanced COVID-19 Information System" is the latest intervention of the Department of Health (DOH) in improving its contact tracing efforts.
"It has revised its contact tracing strategy and simplified its training modules in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO). The DOH, with the technical assistance of WHO and a private enterprise, has deployed the enhanced COVID-19 Information System which involves an application using smartphones and tablets for case and contact tracing," Duterte said.
"This is set to undergo pilot testing in the Davao region and Parañaque City by 27 April 2020."
Duterte said the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has also updated regional officials on the deployment of two other monitoring systems for suspected coronavirus cases.
He said FASSSTER is a web-based disease surveillance platform that covers COVID-19, while TanodCOVID is a self-reporting application that will enable local government officials to access report summaries and visualizations, and mobile numbers and addresses of those who reported symptoms.
"When used by LGU (local government unit), the TanodCOVID will help the local officials and the DOH in the contact tracing of possible and suspected COVID-19 cases and decide on areas where mass testing must be administered," he said.
Another tracking website, StaySafe.ph, is also under review by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). Duterte said StaySafe.PH is a community-driven social distancing website that enables COVID-19 case mapping and monitoring, symptoms reporting, medical consultation, and contact tracing.
As of April 27, the country has recorded 7,777 cases of coronavirus, including 511 deaths and 932 recoveries.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) recently urged LGUs to deploy more teams to conduct contact tracing of persons exposed to coronavirus patients.
The contact tracing teams, including health officers and barangay and police personnel, have been assigned to monitor the status of suspect and probable COVID cases and their family members. Daily updates will be reported to the COVID-19 provincial and regional task forces.