Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said Wednesday that 9,285 contact tracers will be assigned in Metro Manila mostly in Quezon City where there are huge numbers of COVID-19 active cases.
In the Laging Handa news briefing, Año explained that the contact tracers will be deployed in the provinces where they are needed.
However, Año clarified contact tracers will also be on duty in areas with low active cases of COVID-19.
He noted that the target start of work of the additional 50,000 contact tracers will start on October 1, which coincides with the release of the budget for the purpose.
Año explained the recruitment process was done by provinces or cities where they will be deployed in the areas in the region with high numbers of active COVID-19 cases.
He added that the contact tracers may be assigned outside their provinces if the need arises.
The DILG chief will just have to fulfill the recruitment process and filing of pertinent papers for approval before the qualified applicants can go on duty.
Año said the qualified applicants will undergo brief theoretical instructions with those already deployed going through on site training.
“We are dealing with an invisible enemy and the only way really to find the enemy is through contact tracing and then we can do the testing and then we can isolate,’’ Año said.
But before testing, Año said the suspected COVID-19 patients should be isolated stressing that contact tracing is a game changer.