BUTUAN CITY – In an effort to stop the spread of the dreaded coronavirus disease (COVID-19), health authorities and local government units (LGUs) here have stepped up their contact tracing capabilities in targeted areas in various parts of Northeastern Mindanao or Caraga region.
The continued spike of COVID-19 also redoubled the effort of the contact tracers of the government to contain the spread of the virus, particularly in this region’s premier and capital city of Butuan where local transmission was already noted by the health authorities.
Three tracing teams were already formalized in Butuan City.
It was gathered that the teams already traced 117 close contacts of confirmed cases in the city, and these were already assessed and carefully validated.
Last week, 21 cases were classified as local transmission in the city, and DOH again recorded three other local transmission on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, a total of 57 contact tracing teams have already been organized in Agusan del Norte, 22 teams also organized in Agusan del Sur, 22 teams in Surigao del Norte, 20 teams in Surigao del Sur, and 7 teams were also organized in Dinagat Islands, the only province in Northeastern Mindanao or Caraga region that continues to register zero COVID-19 cases.
Along with the local government units, the DOH has intensified COVID-19 contact tracing initiatives in various areas in the five provinces and six cities in Caraga region.
As of Wednesday night, July 29, Caraga region has a total of 306 COVID-19 cases.