Caloocan’s patients to get ‘Q Bands’

MANILA, Philippines — Quarantined patients in Caloocan may soon wear a wristband to have their health status and locations monitored, the city government said yesterday.

During a meeting with the National Task Force Against COVID-19 Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic team, the city government announced its plan to have patients waiting for the results of their swab tests to wear a quarantine wristband printed with a QR Code.

The “Q Band” is a “system for sharing and reporting on your health status, location, and infection risk without fancy technology or complicated rules to follow,” according to city hall.

Patients may report their health status and locations by downloading the application and running the QR Code printed on the acrylic wristband.

The wearing of a Q Band is a “passive” way of monitoring a patient’s location without resorting to more intrusive ways like GPS trackers, according to Sikini Labastilla, who heads the city’s command center that would monitor the patients’ locations.

The phone application also has a drop-down menu for the patient to report his or her symptoms, he added.

The project needs to secure the approval of the city council, which would need to pass an ordinance that would impose fines on violators.

“There’s a fine involved if you remove or deface (the wristband). You are acting against public interest if you do that. The burden is on (the patient) now,” Labastilla said.