(Eagle News) — The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority will hire 300 more contact tracers.
MMDA chair Benhur Abalos said in a television interview the decision was made following the spike in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila.
On February 22, he said COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila were at 3,767.
On March 7, he said the cases reached 7,031.
“Nakikita mo ‘yung dami eh, yung numero halos doble,” he said.
Earlier, the OCTA research group warned that COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region could reach 5,000 daily by March 31.
The group said the uptick could be attributed to the COVID-19 virus variants detected in NCR.
The DOH earlier said of the 52 additional South African variant cases in the country, 41 were from Metro Manila.
Prior to this, the DOH reported six South African variant cases, of which four were traced to Pasay City.
The DOH said, however, that the failure to comply with minimum health protocols and increased mobility directly caused the surge in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila.
This, it said, was exacerbated by the COVID-19 virus variants.
(Eagle News Service)
