COVID-19 swab test results of tourists can’t be faked, tourism chief assures

( INQUIRER file photo / RICHARD A. REYES)

MANILA, Philippines — Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat on Friday assured the public that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) swab test result cannot be faked since it has a corresponding quick response (QR) code.

Puyat said this after explaining that one of the health protocols for Boracay Island tourists is to have a negative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result 48 hours before they travel to the island.

“May nagtatanong, what if ma-peke ang RT-PCR? Hindi pwede mapeke dahil lahat ng RT-PCR na accredited mayroong QR code na hindi pwedeng magaya so ‘yun para sure yung walang magpapalusot,” Puyat said in a  Teleradyo interview.

(Some people are asking, what if the RT-PCR result is fake? That can’t be faked because all RT-PCR results that is accredited have a QR code and that cannot be copied so that means no one can make excuses.)

Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo Puyat  (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / LEO M .SABANGAN II)

“Kasi pwede naman i-cut and paste. Kunyari galing (Philippine) Red Cross pero ang hindi nila alam mayroon doong code na magsasabi kung genuine o authentic yung pinapakita mong RT-PCR test,” she added.

(One can cut and paste the result,  but what they don’t know is that there is a code that will indicate whether or not it is  if the test is genuine or authentic.)

The government reopened Boracay Island to tourists from all over the country on Oct. 1, Wednesday.

FILE PHOTO / Jigger Latoza

Aside from securing a negative swab test result, incoming tourists must follow other strict health protocols such as accomplishing a health declaration form from the Aklan provincial  government as well as a confirmed booking with an establishment accredited by the Department of Tourism.

On the first day of its reopening, Puyat said they recorded 35 tourists who visited Boracay Island.

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