The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Friday, June 4, that 94 percent of "probable" coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases are traced daily while 91 percent of these are isolated within 24 hours by the country's contact tracing teams.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año cited the 110,378 contact tracers (CTs) that cater to the 105 million population for the "fast" turn-around time of contact tracing.
“Kita sa mga datos na maganda po ang contact tracing sa ating komunidad at kanayunan. Malaking tulong dito ang ating mga LGUs, BHERTS (Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams) at mga pulis dahil mas mabilis na nating matukoy ang mga close contacts ng kumpirmadong kaso ng COVID-19 (It is evident in the data that contact tracing in our community and provinces are commendable. The LGUs, BHERT, and police have provided huge assistance since the close contacts of the COVID-19 cases were detected quickly),’’ Año said.
Año said a DILG Central Emergency Operations Center (EOC) report revealed that 14,756 out of 15,635 probable cases/suspects were traced within 24 hours and 14,266 of them were isolated in the same period.
He added that 6,769 out of 8,139 of the confirmed cases were traced with 6,410 of them isolated or quarantined in that span of time.
In NCR- plus which has already exhibited a downward trend of cases, Año said 26,234 contact tracers have been deployed with 11,182 out of the 11,524 suspected/probable cases traced and 10,814 isolated within 24 hours.
The DILG chief said hiring additional contact tracers may no longer be a priority by some LGUs considering their limited resources. He advised them to shift their focus to COVID-19 vaccination roll-out.
“Our contact tracers are our heroes in the fight against COVID-19. Without them, we would be losing this battle. Mabuhay po kayo (Hail them),” he added.
He also commended the LGUs for ramping up the vaccination roll-out nationwide that led to the 1.1 million doses of vaccine consumed last week, a record that allowed the country to surpass the five million mark.
“Our LGUs all over the country have risen to the challenge of vaccination. As more vaccine supplies arrive, they are able to make adjustments and expand their operations as we proceed to mass vaccination,” Año said.
He disclosed that more than five million Filipinos have received a COVID-19 dose.
He claimed there has been no confirmed case of death caused by the COVID-19 vaccine and any serious side effects of the vaccines available in the country are rare.