Poe to DILG: Tap barangay health workers, unemployed in contact tracing drive

By: Consuelo Marquez - 4 years ago

House to house tracing of possible COVID-19 patients 3

A contact tracing team of the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) of the Quezon City government conducts house to house tracing of possible COVID-19 patients in Brgy. Baesa on Wednesday, July 15. The LGU hired 300 new contact tracers to assist in tracking down persons who are possibly exposed to the coronavirus. The team is accompanied by a plain clothes police officer. INQUIRER/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Grace Poe on Sunday suggested to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to tap barangay health workers, conditional cash beneficiaries or persons who had lost their jobs due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to help boost the governments contact tracing drive.

“Lahat ‘yan ang magdedesisyon ay ang DILG, kasama ang mga local government. Unang-una, nakapagbigay ka na ng trabaho. Pangalawa, natutunton pa kung sinu-sino ang mga nagkaroon ng Covid para ma-isolate sila at hindi na makahawa,” she said in a statement.

(DILG will decide on that, together with the local government. First and foremost, jobs are created. Second, it would help detect and identify COVID-19-infected individuals who will be isolated to suppress the spread of the virus.)

Poe, who championed the funding for contact tracers under the Bayanihan 2 bill, also urged DILG to boost contact tracing efforts.

She added that the DILG must regularly “report to Congress” on how it spends budget for contact tracing.

The DILG previously said it is eyeing to train and hire about 50,000 additional contact tracers nationwide to meet the World Health Organization’s ratio of one contact tracer for every 800 individuals.

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