ILOILO – For efficient contact tracing and reverse isolation, the provincial government developed the RIsC-TrAp or the Reverse Isolation and Contact Tracing Application.
Reverse isolation is the isolation of persons more vulnerable to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) such as senior citizens (60 years old and older), pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems.
Developed by the Information and Communication Technology Management Office of the provincial government, RIsC-TrAp will be launched today in the municipality of Mina.
The application will help local government units monitor the movement of people “from and to the barangay.”
“This is a web application designed for the barangay to established and maintain a database of residents, travel monitoring and control points,” according to Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.
Barangay residents would have to fill out travel declaration cards and the information stated in the cards (contact number; complete home address, and/or place of origin; occupation / employer / complete work address; work / business schedule; destinations; date, time of entry and exit) would be encoded into a database.
Defensor, however, clarified that “regular or daily travel of residents to work / conduct of business…shall not require submission of a travel declaration card.”
The provincial government would be providing the barangays with computers and “web hosting facilities for real time transmission of information.”
It will also “provide technical assistance and training for all designated end users…To maintain data privacy, only authorized government personnel can access the database.”
In Executive Order No. 183, Defensor ordered that reverse Isolation shall be adopted as a frontline strategy in the province’s COVID-19 response.
He outlined the following steps (that RIsC-TrAp would prove useful):
* Local government units (LGUs), through Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs) shall identify persons more vulnerable to the severity (PVS) of COVID-19 at the barangay level and maintain a record/database for purposes of reverse isolation.
* Subject to the limitation on the movement of senior citizens, PVS are encouraged to stay at home.
* PVS are discouraged from attending public gatherings.
* Minimum health public standards shall be strictly observed in households with PVS.
Executive Order No. 183 also pushed for reverse contact tracing pursuant to Department of Health (DOH) Department Memorandum No. 2020-0189 (“Updated Guidelines on Contact Tracing of Close Contacts of Confirmed COVID-19 Cases) issued on April 17, 2020.
The province and LGUs shall establish and maintain a Record for Reverse Contact Tracing (RRCT) containing the following:
(a) The Barangay shall establish and maintain a record for residents working / conducting business in establishments, industries and livelihood sectors.
(b) Record of Persons Exiting and Entering the Barangay – Residents exiting the barangay and travelling to a destination where there are a large number of people (such as, but not limited to, public markets, malls, transportation terminals, fishing ports and government offices and facilities, or to a public gathering) shall fill out a travel declaration card that shall be submitted to the BHERTs at the Barangay Monitoring and Control Points upon exit. On the other hand, nonresidents entering the barangay shall also be required to fill out a travel declaration card.
(c) Regular or daily travel of residents to work/conduct of business in establishments, industries and livelihood sectors shall not require submission of a travel declaration card.
(d) The travel declaration card shall contain the following: name, address, occupation, place of origin, and destination, time of entry and exit
(e) Travel declaration cards shall be secured and made available in advance from the BHERTs.
(f) Barangays shall have Travel Monitoring and Control Points that shall monitor and control the entry and exit of persons to and from the barangay.
In the event of COVID1-19 transmission, especially in the abovementioned places/destination accommodating and large number of persons, Reverse Contact Tracing may be undertaken by the Contact Tracing Team starting from the RRCT, tracing possible contact to the event of transmission./PN
