Iloilo City QR code contact tracing system overwhelmed

ILOILO CITY—Registration for the city’s contact tracing system was suspended two days after its launch because of an overwhelming number of residents who were trying to obtain QR codes required for entry into buildings or offices.

Registration on the Uswag Tracer website (https://www.uswagtracer.com) remained suspended as of Thursday (Nov. 19). People trying to access the website were greeted with a notice that the verification process is ongoing for those who had already registered.

Francis Cruz, chief of the city government’s Information Technology Services Division, said the city government received more than 38,0000 applications in just two days.

“We are in the process of verifying the applications based on the government-issued identification card submitted by email,” he told the INQUIRER.

Residents, workers and visitors of the city, age six years old and above, will be required to present digital or printed unique Quick-Response (QR) codes for scanning before entering offices and business establishments.

The QR codes were meant to ease contact tracing for people who are either infected with SARS Cov2, the virus that causes COVID-19, or had been exposed to people carrying the virus.

Through the system, health authorities hope they can easily trace an infected person and those he or she may have been in contact or in close proximity with at a particular time and place.

The system was also intended to do away with filling out contact tracing forms manually which was time-consuming.

The QR codes and instructions will be e-mailed to those who have successfully registered at the website.

The system was earlier implemented at the Iloilo City Hall for all city government employees.

The city-wide implementation of the QR code system would become mandatory in December but Cruz said the deadline would likely be moved as many have not registered yet and to allow the city council to first pass an ordinance requiring it.

Cruz said the city government would accept and process registration of private sector employees next week. Individual registration would resume in up to 10 days.

TSB