PRNewswire have published an article featuring a new mobile application the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has launched called RC143. The app is designed to help health authorities trace new COVID-19 cases. Smart is enabling its subscribers to download and use the mobile app free of data charges. An SMS broadcasting service has also been provided to the Philippine Red Cross by Soprano Design to strengthen their messaging capabilities and information dissemination programs.
The RC143 is an application that will enable contact tracing using the geo-location and sensory capabilities of smartphones. The app will also enable its users to get information on their likely levels of exposure to the virus.
The app will track the users movements, with their consent using the location facility on the mobile phone. This information will go to a database through which the PRC will be able to determine which individuals have come into contact with people who have tested positive for COVID.
“The app will be a great force-multiplier for the Philippine Red Cross’s first responders in our active monitoring and efforts to assist affected persons and many more people and communities at risk,” said Philippine Red Cross Secretary General Elizabeth Zavalla.
“Data is an important weapon in the fight against COVID-19. RC143 can gather information that will help individuals protect themselves and also help health authorities take more effective action to control and defeat this pandemic. This is why we at PLDT and Smart are supporting the Philippine Red Cross in this initiative,” said Alfredo S. Panlilio, President and CEO of Smart Communications and Chief Revenue Officer of PLDT.
The Smart Messaging Suite, powered by Soprano, will provide the Red Cross with 100,000 free text messages per month to strengthen their messaging capabilities to their constituents and other organizations to augment their communications efforts.
