DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 23 November) –The city government of Davao has again postponed the mandatory enforcement of the SafeDavao QR (DQR) code on Monday due to a problem with some gadgets, Mayor Sara Duterte said.
This was the second time that the mandatory enforcement of the DQR has been canceled since its launch on October 31.
Last November 5, Duterte moved the mandatory enforcement of the system from November 7 to November 23 after the registration website crashed due to the huge traffic days after its rollout.
During her live interview over Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR 87.5) on Monday, Duterte revealed that several offices and business establishments have yet to get their scanners for the DQR system ready.
It remained unclear as to when the enforcement of the system will be made mandatory, but the local chief executive disclosed that the service provider is still trying to get approvals from foreign tech companies for the use of their gadgets.
“Yes, it’s not mandatory for now because the service provider said some of the gadgets cannot be used because they need approval from companies (or manufacturers) of the gadgets like Apple,” she said.
She said that registered offices and business establishments, which are using Android phones as scanners and are connected to the internet, may immediately start utilizing the DQR system for contact-tracing.
She said the local government has yet to release a list of the registered business establishments.
“We will hold the mandatory implementation of the DQR because not all establishments, as of today, can scan. Only those with Android phones connected to the internet and offices and establishments in the list can start,” she said.
She said the DQR system is employed by the local government to hasten the contact-tracing efforts in the city, where “only essential travel is allowed.”
Duterte said they are waiting for instruction from the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) team if the checkpoints with Android phones and have internet connection can start using the DQR.
The city reverted to General Community Quarantine (GCQ) status last Friday until the end of this month, amid the “alarming situation” due to the spike in the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases.
But Duterte told the Dabawenyos to be ready for the possible extension of the GCQ status until yearend.
The entire city was placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine from April 4 to May 15, GCQ from May 16 to June 30, Modified GCQ from July 1 to November 20 and GCQ again from November 20 to November 30.
As of November 22, Davao City reported a total of 5,831 COVID-19 cases, Davao de Oro with 429, Davao del Norte with 939, Davao del Sur with 648, Davao Occidental with 113 and Davao Oriental with 416.
The entire Davao region has 2,594 active COVID-19 cases, 5,474 recoveries and 308 deaths.
Out of the 5,831 COVID-19 cases in Davao City, 2,594 are active, 3,525 have recovered and 254 have died.
