(Eagle News)–Over 69,000 contact tracers have been deployed nationwide as part of the government’s efforts against COVID-19.
According to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, the 69,098 contact tracers are in charge of tracking down and managing the close contacts of COVID-19 cases and offer diagnostic, counseling and treatment to confirmed cases.
Año said the contact tracers have been assigned to 5,215 contact tracing teams.
“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,” he said.
He said they were also awaiting the approval of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to their proposal of hiring at least 50,000 contact tracers.
So far, Año said as of July 17, the Philippines’ contact tracing capacity is at 98.2%.
Out of 48,371 confirmed COVID-19 cases, the local contact tracing teams have traced 47,474 cases and their 161,975 close contacts, he said.
