TACLOBAN CASES GOING DOWN

The Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NOCCI) will implement the “no QR code, no entry” policy in business establishments to eliminate manual contact tracing and for more effective monitoring.

The NOCCI’s 200 members are united in the plan, which has no approval yet from the province’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

“We will push through because the business sector is free to adopt its own health and safety protocols that will help increase sales,” Edward Du, former NOCCI president and Central Visayas regional governor of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), said. “It is just like the no mask, no entry policy.”

Du said the QR (Quick Response) code will be a faster and convenient way for government workers and volunteers locating contacts of suspect or confirmed COVID-19 cases. He added it will benefit the public as they no longer have to stand and wait in long queues at establishments, stores, supermarkets and banks.

Currently, some establishments require people to line up at a safe physical distance, present a valid identification card or community quarantine pass and write down their personal information.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will enforce the plan and Du is hoping the agency will begin the policy in Dumaguete City in November.

“It is time for the economy to start moving again. Six months of community quarantine are too long,” he said.

PCCI-Central Visayas recently issued a joint resolution urging the DTI to mandate business owners “to adopt a standardized Quick Response Code design format for a more efficient contact tracing in the event of local COVID-19 transmission in the community.”