Singapore-based medical laboratory launches digital HealthCerts for essential travel

Singapore based medical laboratory Innovative Diagnostics Pte Ltd (IDPL) and Quest Laboratories have launched a platform, IQcert , to issue digital HealthCerts (DHC).

Mass vaccinations for Covid-19 are providing a glimmer of hope that we will soon be able to resume international travel with proper documentation.

Currently, mandatory Covid -19 test results are to be presented at every border for permitted essential travel but there have already been reports of fake Covid -19 test results on paper documents presented at borders in America, Europe and Asia .

Effective 10th March, it is mandatory for all clinics in Singapore providing or intending to provide pre-departure testing (PDT) certificates to outbound travellers to issue all PDT certificates in the digital format, following Singapore’s HealthCerts standards .

HealthCerts and how they work

Singapore's HealthCerts, developed by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) and Ministry of Health (MOH) Singapore, is a set of digital Covid -19 test results/vaccination certificates in line with international standards and the Singapore Government’s requirements.

Using a blockchain-powered digital identity from Trybe.ID, the DHC from IDPL and Quest Laboratories will allow safe and seamless travel for work under the SafeTravel program to other countries accepting these credentials. The steps to receive one are as follows:

• To get a DHC from IDPL and Quest Laboratories a patient having a Covid-19 swab test in clinics in Singapore can have their sample sent to an IDPL or Quest Laboratories lab for processing.

• Following this, a validated result report is issued upon test completion and automatically sent to the Singapore Government E-portal and IQcert. The clinic can login to the government E-portal to view and verify the test result submitted by IDPL and Quest Laboratories.

• The staff at the clinic will then send an email to the patient with a link to the DHC in the form of a QR Code or provide the patient with a physical printout of the DHC memo containing the QR code.

• When the patient receives the DHC from the clinic, they will have to submit it to notarise.gov.sg . this is a Singapore Government Agency website that leverages the backend database of the Singapore Ministry of Health (MOH) and SingPass, the national credential system in Singapore.

• The site will verify and send them an authenticated health cert, which they can use at immigration pre-departure The patient can then present the DHC to Singapore immigration officers at the airports or seaports prior to departure from Singapore. And immigration officers in their airports or ports of entry.

According to the company, this certification is only available to the clinics that are using IDPL and Quest Laboratories service for Covid-19 swab test processing.

This represents some four hundred clinics in Singapore right now that have collectively issued more than a thousand HealthCerts since it was made available in February this year.

Beyond travel, IDPL and Quest Laboratories said that IQcert can become a seamless access credential for large-scale trade events such as conferences, seminars, trade shows, large malls, and other spaces.

For the latest updates on the coronavirus, visit here.

This article was first published in Hardware Zone.