Davao City – The Davao City Covid-19 Task Force has urged business establishments to strictly enforce the scanning of the DQR, reminding them of corresponding penalties for non-compliance.
Noting that establishments have been lenient in implementing the mandatory scanning of DQR, Davao City Covid-19 Task Force Spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser in an interview with City Information Office on Monday said that the city government has not stopped monitoring establishments for the mandatory compliance to scanning of the DQR and failure to comply after three violations business establishments will face penalties.
“Establishments became very lenient on the Safe DQR. Ang hindi nila alam our DQR monitoring is still very strong. As far as I know may mga identified na po tayo na establishments na violator, then they will be notified, then pag hindi parin sila mag follow after three violations, may mga karampatang penalties but it is managed and it is monitored by our prevention and enforcement team (Establishments became very lenient on the Safe DQR. They never knew that our monitoring of the DQR is still very strong. As far as I know, we have already identified establishments that are violators and then they will be notified. If they would still not follow after three violations, they will face penalties but it is managed and monitored by our prevention and enforcement team),” Schlosser said.
Schlosser reminded establishments that Executive Order No. 2 Series of 2021, ordering for the scanning of the DQR to be mandatory in all establishments, is still effective, adding that mandatory scanning has been institutionalized through an ordinance approved by Sangguniang Panlungsod in June 2021.
“Since it is a law, dapat po talaga lahat ng establishments should follow the mandatory scanning of the Safe DQR of their employees, their clients, and on all other people na pumapasok and lumalabas sa kanilang establishments (Since it is a law establishment should follow the mandatory scanning of the Safe DQR of their employees, their clients, and on all other people who are entering and going out of their establishments),” she added.
Schlosser said that compliance with the DQR scanning contributes to the city’s contact tracing efforts.
“Dako kaayo ug tabang ang DQR integration sa atoang contact tracing labi na karon nga we are expecting a surge (The DQR integration is very helpful on our contact tracing especially now that we are expecting a surge,” she said, adding that through DQR, they can easily check if a person has been in the same establishment at the same time with a COVID-19 Positive.
She said that the DQR also helps tag general contacts that are subjected to mandatory swabbing.
Right now, the city utilizes also zoning containment strategies to back up contact tracing and DQR integration which, according to Schlosser, is effective in managing the rising cases amid the impending surge.
Schlosser noted that the January 10 data showed a lower number of cases recorded by the Department of Health Region XI compared to the previous days. From zero reported COVID-19 cases on January 1, 2022, Davao City had two cases on January 2; 16 on January 3; 32 on January 4; 24 on January 5; 67 on January 6; 99 on January 7; 120 on January 8; 77 on January 9; and 40 cases on January 10.
Schlosser attributed this to the intensified strategies for managing COVID-19 cases.
“Nag-prepare man gyud ang Covid Task Force, ang atoang health frontliners sa surge mao na gi-expand nato atoang strategies…so mas hugot gyud ang atoang contact tracing, ang atoang swabbing, ang atoang isolation– that is the beauty of paspas na management kay dali lang nato maputol [ang transmission] (The COVID-19 Task Force, our health frontliners have prepared for the surge so we expanded our strategies… we strengthened our contact tracing, swabbing, and our isolation—that is the beauty of faster management because the chain of transmission is easily cut),” she said.
She added that while the city has no confirmed case of Omicron yet the Task Force has prepared for more cases because the confirmation of the existence of the Omicron variant in the city may take 3 weeks to one month after sending specimens for whole-genome sequencing.
(Source: Davao City Information Office)