New Contact Tracer App for COVID-19 Developed in Cebu

A community tracer application designed specifically for COVID-19 contact tracing has been developed to help beef up the response efforts of local authorities.

The app known as “WeTrace” was introduced yesterday, March 22, before some members of the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force on Managing Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-MEID 7) and the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC-7) at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in the Department of Health (DOH) Region 7.

Developed by Cebuano IT expert Eddie Ybañez, the app works by tracking the location of users to generate patient mapping.

“All people who will download this app, their geo coordinates will be saved by the app. We can then check who they came in contact with,” said Ybañez in his presentation.

He said initially, they are looking at those identified as Persons Under Monitoring (PUMs) and Persons Under Investigation (PUIs) to use the app to generate a location map to help facilitate faster contact tracing by health workers.

Ybañez assured that the app will not collect personal information since the app does not require users to register.

The system, instead, generates a unique QR code on the mobile device and then starts tracking, he explained.

Ybañez’s team is currently working with the Cebu provincial government, Department of Health, Philippine National Police, and other concerned government agencies on how the app will be integrated in the government’s COVID-19 response measures.

RDRRMC-7 Vice Chairperson and Office of Civil Defense-7 Regional Director Marlou Salazar said they have invited Ybañez to present the said app during the Joint IATF-MEID-7 and RDDRMC-7 full council meeting later this week for recommendations and testing.

Ybañez said they are currently waiting for approval from Google and Apple for the app to be available for Android phones and iPhones before they can formally launch the app to the public. (rmn/PIA7)