Travel Tracker is cause of over-complicated entry to the islands
HOW many times does it take for the director of Covid Response to apologise for the shortcomings of the Travel Tracker before someone actually does something about it? Many of the problems are extremely basic programming issues, which makes one wonder who wrote and who maintains it. It provides an unwelcoming, inefficient, over-complicated and frustrating entry to the islands. We read about the States wanting to go digital, but if this is an example of the quality of the work that we can expect then it’s going to be a long road.
jonesmnr@gmail.com
Response from Richard Evans, director of the Covid-19 Response:
‘Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to respond to your correspondent. I am always happy to apologise and recognise an error on the part of our teams whenever mistakes are made, but those are specific cases and they are the exception to the rule. The work our teams do overall, whether that is developing and running the Travel Tracker system, welcoming arrivals at the borders, managing the testing facilities at the East Arm or the hospital, or scheduling, analysing and returning test results for thousands upon thousands of people is an incredible ongoing achievement that I am very proud to be a part of.
Speaking on the Travel Tracker system specifically, the vast majority of travellers do not encounter any problems and are able to complete the form quickly and easily. Those who do not have online devices or find them difficult to use are ably supported by the Welcome Team when they arrive, a team that recently won an award for the quality of its customer service. The Travel Tracker and our teams on the ground have had an incredible challenge in the past two years where the travel requirements themselves have changed, often at short notice, often with new rules introduced to reflect the ever-changing Covid-19 situation.
The Travel Tracker has repeatedly and quickly adapted to all of these, which is a testament to those who work on its design.
The Travel Tracker also provides an end-to-end service to those who are required to PCR test on arrival, with the same system linking the traveller through from their swab at the port, through to the lab, to the result, to the message they receive on their mobile at the end of the process. In the times where a major change has had to be made to travel rules at very short notice in order to protect our community, this can create difficulties for a short time while the systems adapt. In those periods our officers work very hard to accommodate all arrivals, no matter how complex their circumstances. On many occasions they have worked long hours, into the night and through weekends, to provide the best possible support and service. For all of that, I make no apology.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish our teams, and all of our travellers past, present and future, a wonderful Christmas – and we look forward to supporting them in the new year.’