Amid the surge of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, contact tracing efforts in various regions have "deteriorated" in recent weeks, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said on Tuesday, March 30.
Magalong, the country's contact tracing czar, told the House Committee on Health that the contact tracing efficiency ratio has dropped to a national average of 1:3.
"You can see that the contact efficiency ratio of each region is gradually decreasing," he said during the House panel's inquiry on the government's COVID-19 response, comparing figures on close contacts traced per contact tracer between February 28 to March 14, and March 15 to March 29.
"For the past four weeks, nakita niyo na talagang nagdeteriorate ho nang malaki (you can see that it deteriorated significantly). And look at the average, from 1:7 -- this is the national average -- it became, went down to 1:3," he reported.
Based on Magalong's presentation to the panel, 10 of the country's 17 regions have a declining contact tracing system. These included were the National Capital Region (NCR), Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and Region 4-B (MiMaRoPa).
"Technically, wala pong contact tracing diyan (contact tracing is being conducted in those areas)," said the mayor.
One reason, he explained, is that contact tracers do not go beyond the households of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Other close contacts of COVID-19 patients "are still roaming around the streets, potentially infecting other people", he raised.
Magalong enumerated to the House panel other challenges that are causing the decline in the contact tracing efforts.
One of these, he also said, is the lack of a "uniformed data collection tool", as well as contact analytical tool, which several local government units (LGUs) supposedly do not use despite their advise.
Some LGUs also do not properly encode close-contact records, he added.
Magalong added the "COVID KAYA" surveillance system and "Tanod COVID" reporting system both implemented by the national government " not support contact tracing".
Despite trainings, LGUs have also failed to cascade knowledge in their jurisdictions. LGUs, he added, likewise do not coordinate with uniformed personnel for contact tracing.
Magalong also mentioned the delay in the rollout of the StaySafe.Ph contact tracing application, although he reported to lawmakers that the issue has been reesolved.
Moving forward, also said that they would retrain contact tracers, especially, in the "NCR plus" bubble -- Metro Manila, Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, which have all been placed under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).