NOTE: THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE BOHOL CHRONICLE’S SUNDAY PRINT EDITION.
Vice Governor Rene Lopez Relampagos together with the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Bohol approved on Monday, December 28, 2020, a resolution authorizing Gov. Arthur C. Yap to sign an agreement with a private entity for the automation of health clearance in relation to Covid-19 in the province. The Provincial Government of Bohol is planning to have an online information system that keeps track of the testing status of residents and visitors in Bohol.
According to Provincial Administrator Atty. Kathyrin Pioquinto, they have been informed of issuances of fake negative results of the PCR tests in Boracay. They have been concerned since Bohol has started to re-openits tourism. Prior to that information, Atty. Pioquinto said that Governor Arthur C. Yaphad already wanted to have a separate verification of PCR certificates in a way that these will be authenticated by the Provincial Government or a third party partner of PGBh, like the Red Cross Philippines. Atty. Pioquinto further said that Red Cross Philippines uses a certificate which has a QR Code that if scanned, will show information of the patient; where it was swabbed, the time, its full name and other vital data. This is the reason as to why Gov. Yap also wants the Provincial Government of Bohol’s very own containerized PCR Laboratory will have the same capacity to do the same.
With this development, the Provincial Government of Bohol will enter into an agreement with Litus Soft Tech Inc., a provider of a cloud-based information systems for the management of Covid-19 health information and clearance database. The project aims to provide a speedy, efficient and orderly processing and issuance of Health Clearance in connection with Covid-19 and to address the issue regarding the reports of tampered PCR Test results. The project further establishes an automated integrated health clearance information system. In addition, Litus Soft Tech Inc. will install the necessary hardware, software and printer in the designated location.
According to Litus, they will be providing the system and services without cost on the part of the Provincial Government. The responsibility of the government unit in this proposed project is only to provide a space for the operation system, provide utilities, and provide necessary information to the public on the merits of the system. The system they will provide manages the Covid-19 testing and clearance process. The certificate process consists of entering patient data pertinent to the Covid-19 test and issuance of RT-PCR result and saving the information in the database and assigning a specific QR code. Accordingly, the system allows for the search for the patient information thru QR code, as it prompts for the test results and updates database. The module generates the health clearance of the patient.
Vice Gov. Relampagos is supportive of this Provincial Government’s endeavor for a convenient, authenticated and seamless certificate for PCR results. VG Relampagos said that this collaboration with the private entity isfor purposes of convenience, especially for OFWs& APORs where information can be accessed anywhere in the world, and the certificate can be verified online without hassle on the part of the patient or visitor. VG Relampagos clarified that this will be for PCR certificates issued by the Provincial Government’s containerized PCR lab and that this is optional, nor an additional requirement, but only for those who would like to avail.