StaySafe Everyone

One Year Already

It is almost a year now since the government decided to lock down the National Capital Region (NCR) and then the rest of the country to try to contain the rapid spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Observers are divided on whether or not the government lockdown was effective, particularly during the first three months of the lockdown. Those who say, it was effective cites statistics on Covid-19 infections and deaths from other similarly situated countries across the world. While those who say it wasn’t effective, cite the impact the lockdown has done on the economy which contracted by as much as 9% in 2020. It is best to leave this issue for historians to sort out. For now, the public must let its guards down and should continue to be vigilant.

A Screen Shot of StaySafe App

Vaccine Rollout

The government is still waiting for the delivery of the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BionTech and AstraZeneca. This first batch of vaccines is intended for healthcare workers who are most at risk of contracting the virus. Drills and simulations on vaccine transport, handling, storage, and administration are going on and will continue until everything is perfectly done, gaps have been patched, and corrective actions are implemented.

The government targets to vaccinate against Covid-19 70% of the population. This job is simply daunting. The country does not have the logistical infrastructure to cover the entire archipelago. This means it will take some time before the government can achieve this target.

Reopening the Economy

The biggest concern is the economy. The extended lockdowns have been among the longest in the world, weakening the economy to levels similar to World War II. The number of unemployed has risen and the government needs to bring them back to work if it is to avoid the unsavory prospect of chaos on the streets. The problem is that many of the small businesses might not be able to jump-start back their businesses for lack of the needed capital. This is a problem that the government must carefully address. The export-manufacturing sector is back on its feet but the tourism industry may not be able to make a pre-pandemic comeback in the next couple of years. This means that the government may have to focus on infrastructure spending and agriculture. If it can make a balanced policy framework, the nation may be able to beat the economic decline faster by staving off high inflation in foods and basic commodities.

Contact Tracing Remains a Problem

Contact tracing remains a huge challenge to the government. The fast-spreading mutated versions of the Covid-19 virus tell us that contact tracing should be done better. As things stand, the government is are far from being good at this. But this does not mean that it cannot improve its performance.

The IATF

As the lead agency for dealing with the pandemic, the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Diseases has the authority to require LGUs and business establishments to adopt a unified digital platform that can facilitate a more efficient and effective contact tracing system. The good thing is that IATF has already launched its StaySafe contact tracing app. The app can be download on any Apple or Android device. It offers a two-way QR Code scanning to screen people who visit business establishments. The IATF should promote and require the adoption of this app.

Among the many advantages of the app are:

1. It provides a simple and unified digital platform for contact tracing.

2. It has sufficient data privacy protection structure compliant with Data Privacy Law

3. It reduces if not eliminates cross-contamination in manual filing out of forms

4. It can be easily implemented because of the ubiquitious smartphone ownership among Filipinos.

5. It allows for a faster data gathering on the spread of infection

6. It offers the government quicker response time to possible super spreaders and to stop massive infection.

7. It makes monitoring of infection direction easier.

8. By adopting StaySafe, long queues at mall entrances would be eliminated because visitors would not have to fill out online forms of various establishments.

A Screen Shot of a Mall's Covid-19 Form for Visitors