MANILA, Philippines — The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Saturday (April 10) approved the recommendation of the National Economic and Development Authority to use automatic contact tracing through smart messaging system.

A statement issued by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Sunday said this is to further strengthen and improve the use of StaySafe.ph System – the official social distancing, COVID-19 health-condition reporting, and contact tracing system of the government.

“To ensure interoperability and integration of all contact tracing applications integration in the StaySafe.ph System, there will be an initial beta-testing, together with the proposed messaging, of the Smart Messaging System in Pasig City due on May 1, 2021, and beta-testing in the consortium of Antipolo and cities of Pasig, Mandaluyong, Valenzuela due on May 1, 2021, with access to COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS),” the statement said.

The IATF has also adopted the recommendation on the immediate completion of the transfer of ownership of the CDRS, and its immediate integration with the StaySafe.PH System and other local contact tracing systems and applications, to the Department of Health (DOH), Roque said.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has been directed to be the overall lead in the implementation of the project, while the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), is directed to lead its national interoperability.

The DOH, on the other hand, is in charge of ensuring the integration of the StaySafe.ph System with the CDRS.

The DILG shall be convening with the DICT and the DOH to formulate the necessary action plan with specific timelines and targets for the said project.

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday (April 11) recorded 11,681 additional coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines.

This brings the total number of active COVID-19 cases to 146,519.

The health department also logged 55,204 recoveries and 201 deaths, bringing the total number of those who recuperated to 703,404 and those who succumbed to the disease to 14,945.

The DOH also reported that 22 duplicates were removed from the total case count. Seven of which have reportedly recovered.

“Moreover, 13 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation,” the DOH added.

The DOH also said that the report was made pending some data from six laboratories that were not able to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS) on April 10, 2021.

Complete details of the report are available at www.doh.gov.ph/covid19tracker.

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have clarified reports that a 54-year-old man from Caloocan City experienced a serious adverse event after his inoculation with the COVID-19 vaccine.

In a statement released Saturday, April 10, the DOH said that upon receipt of the report, it immediately directed the Regional Adverse Events Following Immunization Committee (RAEFIC) to conduct a causality assessment to determine if the vaccine had indeed caused the reaction.

“Following the conclusion of the causality assessment conducted by the RAEFIC, as concurred with by the National AEFIC, the DOH and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today report that: (1) the COVID-19 vaccine DID NOT cause the stroke, (2) the adverse event is inconsistent with the causal association to the vaccine, and (3) the adverse event is coincidental to underlying or emerging conditions of the patient,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the agencies also reiterated its directive to all vaccination sites to strictly follow screening protocols in the assessment of potential vaccine recipients. It also reminded the public to fully disclose their underlying conditions during registration for the COVID-19 vaccine.

The DOH and FDA emphasized that vaccines are safe and effective.

“With the expansion of the national vaccination program to cover senior citizens and persons with comorbidities, the DOH and FDA likewise urge the public to avail of the FREE COVID-19 vaccines to acquire the protection it provides not only for yourselves, but also for your families,” the statement further said. AAC