Some 69,098 contract tracers tasked to track down and manage close contacts, reduce the spread of infection, and offer diagnostic, counseling, and treatment to confirmed COVID-19 cases have been deployed nationwide, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Sunday.
DILG Secretary Eduardo M. Año said that they are assigned to 5,215 contact tracing teams spread out nationwide.
Año said that they are actively aiding the communities in monitoring “both asymptomatic and symptomatic COVID-19 patients and their close contacts daily for 14 days beginning from the last point of exposure.”
“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 (T3) management system against this virus,” Año said.
Año added that the number of contact tracers has continuously increased with many volunteers “from the communities are also coming forward and helping in efforts to monitor and search for those who have had close contacts with COVID-19 cases.’’
He noted that the country’s contact tracing capacity stands at 98.2 percent as of July 17 with the local contact tracing teams having so far traced 47,474 out of the 48,371 confirmed cases and their 161,975 close contacts.
“MIMAROPA (Region 4-B or the Mindoro provinces, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan), Region 5 (Albay), Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), Caraga (Region 13), and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have 100 percent contact tracing capability. On the other hand, Regions 10, 6, and 2 have the lowest capacity with 87.47 percent, 80.11 percent, and 74.41 percent,’’ the DILG said.
Meanwhile, Año welcomed the designation of Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong as COVID-19 contact tracing czar.
He cited Magalong’s expertise in the field owing to his experience as former chief of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.