QC hires 300 contact tracers

With new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases on the rise in Quezon City, the local government has hired an additional 300 contact tracers to find people who have been in direct contact with an infected patient in the past two weeks.

According to City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit head Rolando Cruz, they have formed 30 teams of contact tracers from the new hires.

“Through them, our goal is to inform and educate those who have been exposed about quarantine protocols to reduce transmission,” he said.

As of Thursday, the city had recorded the second highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the entire country with 4,646 cases, next to Cebu City.

Cruz said that the city’s current pool of contact tracers was comprised of registered nurses, medical technologists, police contingents and at least two persons enlisted by each barangay. —Mariejo S. Ramos