DILG orders all LGUs to use StaySafe.ph

MANILA, Philippines — Local government units (LGUs) have been ordered to quit their respective contact tracing systems and instead use the StaySafe.ph application, which would eventually be the integrated digital platform for pandemic response.

Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya, spokesman for the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), said every LGU should use the national government’s official digital contact tracing system instead of procuring and implementing their own.

“We will soon fully implement the StaySafe application and we don’t want to complicate the situation any further. It will be easier and more cost-efficient for LGUs to just use StaySafe instead of buying their own,” Malaya said in a statement.

He said that this is in preparation for the full implementation of the national contact tracing system through the StaySafe app.

“Once we have a unified system, this will be a big boost to our digital contracting tracing efforts which will complement and assist in the work of our 255,000 contact tracers nationwide,” he added.

Malaya noted that the StaySafe application is readily available for use by LGUs and at no cost.

If the LGUs have their own contact tracing system, this should be integrated into the StaySafe application as required by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

The DILG is finalizing the terms for the formal turnover of the application from the developer Multisys to the DILG as end-user and head of the NTF Task Group on Contact Tracing.

The IATF has mandated that all data collected from digital contact tracing applications be submitted to a centralized contact tracing data repository to be linked and integrated with appropriate lab results.

The contact tracing data will be centralized and will be linked to the Department of Health’s surveillance and contact tracing platform.