In support of the government’s efforts to ramp up contact tracing capacity for COVID-19 cases, PLDT Enterprise has enabled free access to COVID KAYA app developed by the Department of Health's Epidemiology Bureau.
The contact-tracing app COVID KAYA is a real-time reporting platform used exclusively by registered health workers in the country to track all COVID-19 cases and contacts.
With PLDT Enterprise's partnership with the DOH, the World Health Organization, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology, app users need not worry about incurring mobile data charges.
“PLDT Enterprise's focus on bayanihan is best exemplified by our commitment to continuously provide the right technology solutions for the problems we face today. With this initiative, we hope to further enable DOH in their endeavors to respond to and combat COVID-19,” said Jovy Hernandez, ePLDT President and CEO and Head for PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups.
Healthcare providers using this app can easily report cases to the DOH Epidemiology Bureau, allowing the agency to handle case investigations and interview those who may have come in contact with infected individuals.
The app's real-time monitoring capability will show the bottlenecks and delays in patient services across the continuum of care. Moreover, frontline responders will be able to use COVID KAYA to better manage their work.
Currently, the two main priorities for the app include boosting the efficient data entry and data management of COVID-19 cases and their contacts, as well as simplifying real-time data entry in COVID KAYA.
“The timely sharing of data and speedy action to contain transmission is critical in saving lives,” said Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe, acting WHO Representative in the Philippines.
“As the country expands testing, contact tracing in order to track, isolate and treat is an important step in reducing the impact of COVID-19 to secure a healthy future and building back our society and economy. COVID KAYA is a helpful tool for the government and public health workforce to quickly collect, analyze and share information – we need to empower our front liners and help them make decisions efficiently.”