INTERIOR Secretary Eduardo Año yesterday said 69,098 contact tracers are currently deployed, working double-time, to prevent the further spread of the novel coronavirus which has already infected 67,456 Filipinos.
The number of deployed contact tracers increased from 52,463, or by 16,635, from June 18 when the number of COVID-19 cases in the country only had 27,799 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Año said the contact tracers have been assigned to 5,215 contact tracing teams nationwide, actively aiding communities in the monitoring of asymptomatic and symptomatic COVID-19 patients and their close contacts daily.
“Our local contact tracing teams nationwide are working double-time to interrupt the transmission and reduce the spread of infection. This way, we can cover all the bases in the end-to-end trace-test-treat management system against this virus,” Año said.
The DILG chief said the number of contact tracers is continuously increasing because many volunteers have come forward to help in the government’s campaign against the pandemic.
Año said the DILG has yet to get funding from the Department of Budget and Management for the hiring of additional 50,000 contact tracers to comply with World Health Organization (WHO) standards.
Authorities said last month that the government may need some P17 billion to hire 50,000 additional contact tracers.
“We are also awaiting the approval of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to our proposal of hiring at least 50,000 contact tracers to further intensify our contact tracing efforts,” said Año.
As of July 17, Año said the country’s contact tracing capacity stands at 98.2%. He said local contact tracing teams have so far traced 47,474 out of 48,371 confirmed cases and their 161,975 close contacts.
MIRAROPA, Bicol, Zamboanga Peninsula, Caraga, and Bangsamoro regions have 100 percent contact tracing capability, while Northern Mindanao, Western Visayas, and Cagayan Valley regions have the lowest capacity at 87.47%, 80.11%, and 74.41%, respectively.
The contact tracing efforts is supervised by Baguio City mayor Benjamin Magalong, who had been recently designated as the contact tracing czar owing to his experience as former chief of the PNP Criminal and Detection Group.
“With Mayor Benjie leading the government’s contact tracing efforts, I am sure that the country’s contact tracing capability will significantly improve,” Año said in welcoming Magalong designation.
DILG undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya said the 99 percent efficiency of contact tracing teams in Cebu City, coupled with community quarantine measures, was instrumental in the reduction of virus transmission in the Visayan metropolis.
Malaya said there are 31 contact tracing teams, composed of 149 members, in Cebu City.
They have traced 7,589 out of the 7,685 COVID-19 cases in the city and 9,878 contacts have been assessed.
“We have been seeing a downward trend in the city, and this is partly because of the work of our contact tracers,” Malaya said.
Meanwhile, Año urged local government units to come up with uniform penalty when passing ordinances to punish people caught violating anti-COVID measures like wearing of mask and observance of social distancing.
