Caloocan assures confidentiality of residents wearing ‘quarantine wristbands’

The Caloocan City government utilizes Q Band or Quarantine Band to remotely monitor individuals exposed to those positive for the new coronavirus disease. The wristbands are distributed to some Caloocan residents undergoing quarantine on Tuesday, September 8. INQUIRER/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — The local government of Caloocan City on Saturday assured the confidentiality of residents’ data should they be required to wear “quarantine bands (Q-bands)” for monitoring of COVID-19.

“Syempre meron naman po tayong IATF [guideline] na ‘yung sa mga data or confidentiality na tinatawag. Ang lahat lamang ng nakakaalam na data ay ang ating command center,” Caloocan City Administrator Eng. Oliver Hernandez said in the Laging Handa online press briefing.

(Of course, we have an IATF guideline regarding the data or confidentiality. Those who only know about the data are our command center.)

“Hindi namin ito ibinibigay sa public para maproteksyunan din ang ating mga kababayan,” he added.

(We do not disclose this [data] to the public and to protect our fellowmen.)

The Q-band, which is also being used in countries such as Hong Kong and South Korea, is used to track individuals who had close contact with COVID-19 positive patients.

This equipped with a unique QR code. Using the band, an individual could share his/her health status, location and infection risk.

Such bands were distributed to select Caloocan residents undergoing quarantine and who underwent COVID-19 testing, Hernandez said.

With the bands the local government can track the whereabouts of those individuals being monitored, Hernandez added.

“Mamonitor natin closely kung nasaan or ang whereabouts ng ating kababayan dahil ipinagbabawal na ang home quarantine. Dapat nasa facility sila at dapat hindi sila lalabas sa facility,” he said.

(We can monitor them closely on their whereabouts because home quarantine is prohibited. They should remain at the facility and are not allowed to go out.)

CFC