By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat
The Department of Tourism (DOT) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will roll-out a post-audit mechanism to ensure that all restaurants follow the prescribed standards with non-compliant enterprises facing temporary closure until strict adherence to regulations is accomplished.
This was announced by Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat following the approval by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) of the minimum health protocols for dine-in services for of restaurants and fastfood establishments.
In a bid to reopen the tourism businesses safely within the confines of community quarantined areas, the DOT is working together with the DTI and inclusion-tech venture builder Talino Venture Labs to provide FREE digital solutions for accredited businesses to help them meet the technological demands of the new normal.
The IATF, during the same meeting has adopted SafePass, an all-digital, contact-free authorizing, scheduling, and contact tracing solution to help businesses operate safely during the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
“We introduce these free digital solutions as part of the government’s support to businesses, especially MSMEs, in their transition to the new normal. Here, innovation is key to effectively implement and maintain health and safety protocols in their premises,” Puyat assured.
Features of SafePass Express include space planning, registration and health questionnaire, protocol enforcement, and digital incident management.
The technological innovation also reduces the burden of manual data capture through its all-digital and contact-free collection of health information from every tourist or guest, and provides an efficient incident management experience with tools for digital contact tracing.
Another Express version of the app called Dine In, which is also free for accredited restaurants, will allow customers to schedule a reservation in a restaurant, following the government's safe distancing and incident management regulations, book, order and pay their dine-in orders ahead through an all-digital, contact-free menu.
These applications are powered by inclusiontech venture builder Talino Venture Labs and Amihan Global Strategies, an ASEAN leader in digital transformation.