PNP: Police to continue to assist health authorities in contact tracing efforts

(Eagle News)–The police will continue to assist health authorities in contact tracing efforts,  Philippine National Police chief Archie Gamboa said, as he welcomed the “contact tracing ecosystem” put forward by the country’s newly-appointed contact tracing czar.

Gamboa issued the statement after Interior Secretary Eduardo Año tapped the Bureau of Fire Protection to help in the government’s Oplan Kalinga program that aims to identify COVID-19 cases who are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms in houses even if they are not qualified for home quarantine.

Earlier, Año said the police would also give their assistance, but critics slammed the idea, claiming possible human rights violations.

“This is another operational support that police can provide to the overall strategic response to the COVID-19 crisis,” Gamboa said.

In line with this, Gamboa welcomed Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong’s “contact tracing ecosystem” which he said was a partnership between health workers and police public safety specialists.

He said “if only we can isolate all tested individuals, without violating their individual rights, until such time that test results are known, then we have already solved half the problem of finding these confirmed cases.”

“But this is not the case because results are known long after the patient has left the testing facility,” he said.

He added certain restrictions in the data privacy law also affect the contact tracing capability of the country, “such that we are only 76% efficient in NCR and similarly lower than the national average in some areas.”

“Information provided by the patient during testing and subsequent information of close contacts are crucial to make the entire effort work. This is where the investigative skills of the police come in handy,” he added.