The facade of the Bacolod City Government Center. (File photo courtesy of Bacolod City PIO)
BACOLOD CITY – Residents here are required to register online in the Bacolod City Covid-19 Contact Tracing (BaC-Trac) system as part of the strengthened local response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis.
Upon registration, an individual will be issued a BaC-Trac card which includes the holder’s name, address, identification number, and a uniquely-assigned quick response (QR) code.
City administrator Em Ang, executive director of Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center (EOC), said they first listed up the employees at the Bacolod City Government Center.
“By next week, the system will be up and running. We plan to put up registration booths and kiosks in public places such as markets and shopping malls. We will assign technical staff to help register the residents of Bacolod. Those who have access to the internet can now register on their own,” Ang said in a radio interview on Saturday.
To register, a user can visit www.bacolodcity.gov.ph and access the Bac-Trac page.
The city government adopted the South Cotabato Covid Contact Tracing System (SC-CCTS) in developing a web-based and mobile-based application customized for Bacolod.
“It’s very simple. It’s free for everyone. It is also accessible. Once you are registered, a QR code will be generated for you. You can have it printed out and then keep it in your wallet,” Ang said.
Once a person enters a government building or a shopping mall, the QR code from his or her card will be scanned.
The cards will serve as a digital logbook for the purpose of recording the date and time of entry of visit.
Business and government establishments are required to download the mobile application CCTS Logger on Google store to be able to scan BaC-Trac cards.
“We require all residents of Bacolod to register. You cannot enter the malls and the markets, you cannot enter the Government Center if you don’t have a QR code. That’s why, all those residing in Bacolod should register,” Ang said.
Meanwhile, individuals who are not residents of Bacolod and may have temporary personal or business transactions in the city, or who may have to report for work daily will be issued a BaC-Trac visitor’s card.
In adopting the SC-CCTS as its online contact tracing system, the city government will be able to record the movement of residents around the city and elsewhere in the province and easily locate people suspected of having had contacts with Covid-19 patients.
“I came across an online article about the contact tracing system developed by South Cotabato. I shared the article with the members of our data management cluster and they agreed that it is an easy, accessible, and fool-proof system,” Ang said.
She added that Mayor Evelio Leonardia immediately contacted South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr., who willingly agreed to share the system with Bacolod.
On Sept. 22, the EOC Task Force held a virtual meeting with Melody Joy Cosep of the South Cotabato Information and Communications Division, and the following day, the province’s information technology officer Mike Sonza Galang met with the city’s Management Information Technology and Computer Services (MITCS) personnel led by officer-in-charge Ramon de los Reyes for a technical orientation.
Galang taught the Bacolod team how to obtain the BaC-Trac card through online registration and how to install a CCTS logger for private and government establishments.
As of Saturday night, Bacolod recorded 3,765 Covid-19 cases, including 2,566 recoveries, 1,133 active cases, and 66 deaths. (PNA)
