Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte has approved an Ordinance to fully implement the “KyusiPass” contact tracing application in all business establishments in the city.
Ordinance No. PO21CC-456 requires establishments to prepare their QR codes for the full implementation of the contact tracing app on or before August 15.
The ordinance was introduced by Majority Floor Leader Franz Pumaren.
“We found out that those bars have KyusiPass at their entrances for display only, but when we tried to contact trace their customers, their databases were empty. Such irresponsible behavior renders our contact tracing efforts useless and negatively affects our pandemic response. With the swift passage of this ordinance, we can now do random checks of various establishments and determine if they are really using the app properly”, Mayor Belmonte said.
The Ordinance will also penalize establishments that do not properly use the KyusiPass.
“We need to immediately implement our digital contact tracing app to beef up our contact tracing efforts amid the entry of the Delta variant in the country,” said Belmonte.
The Quezon City Council earlier approved Ordinance No. 3019, S-2021 or the “KyusiPass” Ordinance, which provided business establishments with a six-month transition period before its full implementation.
“Considering the reported cases of a more contagious and transmissible COVID-19 variant, e.g. Delta variant, also known as B.1.617.2, there is a need to fully implement the “KyusiPass Ordinance” to not later than August 15, 2021,” the Ordinance stated.
Business establishments that fail to comply will be penalized under Section 6 of Ordinance No. 3019, S-2021, which, for the first offense, imposes a P3,000 fine and suspension of franchise or business permit until the violation has been rectified.
A P5,000 fine and suspension of franchise or business permit with the issuance of temporary closure order will be meted for the second offense.
For the third offense, the business permit or franchise will be revoked and a closure order will be issued, on top of the P5,000 fine.
All business owners must secure a dedicated QR code per establishment from the Business Permits and Licensing Department (BPLD).