BACOLOD City – The city of San Carlos in Negros Occidental rolled out a mobile application for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) contact tracing dubbed the “VAMOS, or Viral Assessment and Monitoring System.
Mayor Renato Gustilo in his Executive Order (EO) 243 directed all private, business, and commercial establishments in the northern Negros City to use and implement the system.
The latest order followed EO 235, which also directed government offices and barangays to do the same.
“Mandating its use has become imperative for every individual and all government offices as well as private, business, and commercial establishments in the city,” Gustilo said.
In EO 243, Gustilo said the effective and efficient implementation of the contact tracing system requires the compliance of all concerned local government units, private and business sectors, and all constituents, specifically in the conduct of data gathering and processing of basic personal information.
“Contact tracing plays an important role in containing outbreaks of infectious disease. A creative and systematic approach on contact tracing has become even more vital in view of the recent spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in San Carlos City,” he added.
The VAMOS mobile can be downloaded for free by IOS or iPhone users in the AppStore, and also by Android users in the Google PlayStore.
The application was developed by the city’s Information Technology and Computer Services Office (ITCSO) using a quick response (QR) code technology.
The QR code is a two-dimensional version of the bar code that conveys a wide variety of information almost instantly with just the scan of a mobile device or smart phones.
As the city’s official contact tracing mobile application, VAMOS is a tool designed to register entities, such as individuals, juridical, and transportation, for the monitoring of their activities for easier and faster contact tracing.
When entering a building or a public transportation, the individual can either scan the QR code of the establishment or let the staff scan his or her virtual identification, which contains the individual’s QR code.
The ITCSO is conducting a daily online seminar-training until Nov. 13 for IT staff of organizations to discuss the steps on how to download, install, register, and use the VAMOS mobile.
As of Nov. 9, San Carlos City recorded 300 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 223 have recovered.
There are 61 active cases and 16 recorded deaths. (With a report from PNA/PN)
