MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has already hired over 73,000 contact tracers as part of the government’s effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Last June, the government said it is targeting to hire 82,537 contact tracers.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, co-chair of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) said during the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay Forum the DILG stated that it has already hired 73,306 contact tracers nationwide, based on its accomplishment report.
The number is only 9,231 short of its target number.
He said through the increased number of contact tracers “there have been 207, 204 close contacts (with COVID-19 positive individuals) who have been traced and assessed.”
“The government’s contact tracing efforts are ongoing and there is still ongoing recruitment nationwide,” he said.
He said the number of contact tracers that can be hired could still increase further once the Bayanihan 2 Bill becomes a law.