COVID CHECK. Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (2nd and 3rd from left) inspect the East Avenue Medical Center on Thursday (March 18, 2021). They also visited a market to check if minimum health safety protocols were being followed. (Photo grabbed from QC government FB page)
MANILA – The Quezon City government is pushing for the use of its KyusiPass application to enhance the city’s contact tracing capabilities and help curb the spread of the dreaded coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) amid the rising infections in the city.
As of Thursday, the Covid-19 update from the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance (CESU) showed that QC registered 10.9 percent or 4,104 active infections from the 37,689 validated cases.
CESU also reported 32,717 recoveries (86.8 percent) while 868 individuals or 2.3 percent succumbed.
The Department of Health (DOH) Covid-19 tracker issued on Wednesday likewise showed that QC topped the cities with most number of cases at 49,951.
QC likewise recorded the most number of new cases in the last 14 days by the date of the onset of illness at 4,890.
Also on Thursday, Belmonte, with DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III and other city officials, visited Mega Q-Mart in Barangay E. Rodriguez to check if minimum health safety protocols were being implemented and followed. Vendors and customers were given hygiene kits.
Afterwards, the team checked on the situation at the East Avenue Medical Center.
In a recent interview, Mayor Joy Belmonte admitted that the contact tracing capability of the city is at a low 1:8 ratio, or eight close contacts tracked for every confirmed positive patient.
“Ang contact tracing natin medyo bumaba siya dahil dumami yung kaso na kinakailangang i-contact trace at hindi naman dumami ang ating mga contact tracers (Our contact tracing has lowered also because of the increase in cases that needs to be traced but the number of our contract tracers has not increased),” she said.
The QC government recently rolled out its centralized Covid-19 check-in system designed for more than 80,000 registered businesses.
“Under KyusiPass, a contact tracing system powered by Safepass, all business establishments in the city are provided with free QR codes that would serve as a unique location monitoring code for its customers or clients to scan,” the QC government posted on Facebook.
The centralized government QR service will store all customer details, making contact tracing more manageable, especially in the event of an outbreak.
“Without delay, we can contact people who had been at identified exposure sites,” CESU chief Dr. Rolly Cruz said.
Registering for KyusiPass
There are three ways for an individual or business owner to register for the KyusiPass:
1. QC residents can register through request.safp.as and select “Create an Account”;
2. Registering may also be done by chatting through the SafePass Portal on Facebook Messenger and select “Get SafePass”; and
3. By sending a message/texting “GETQR<space>your created 4-digit MPIN<space>your name” and send to 2256722.
After doing any of the three, the registrants must wait for their one-time password (OTP) and input them within five minutes in order to verify their mobile number.
In order to keep a person’s account or SafePass ID protected, a personal four-digit MPIN (mobile PIN) must be created.
The last step is to save the SafePass ID on a mobile phone or print it for future use when entering any SafePass-protected establishment.
Meanwhile, business owners or managers may send an email to [email protected] indicating the businesses’ Mayor’s Permit Number and the name of the establishment.
For inquiries on KyusiPass, the QC government may be reached at safepass.zendesk.com or by sending an email to [email protected]. (PNA)
