Additional contact tracers to start work on Oct 1

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. INQUIRER/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines — The additional contact tracers will start working next month to assist in the government’s fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Wednesday.

“Ang target natin ay Oct. 1 magstart na sila (contact tracers) ng work nila. Tamang tama na ‘yun ‘din ‘yung period na ma-release yung budget. Inuna lang namin mafulfill yung recuritment at mapasa yung requirements,” DILG chief Eduardo Año said in a televised Laging Handa press briefing, when sought for updates about new contact tracers.

(The target date is for them to start working on Oct. 1. This is good timing because this is also the period to release the budget. We are just finishing the recruitment and passing of requirements.)

On the training of the new contact tracers, the DILG chief said training of the contact tracers will be conducted during their deployment.

“Ang training lang nila ay maikli lang at theoretical. Mostly even nandun na sila sa deployment nila pwede pa rin sila sa on the job or on the side training,” he said.

(Their training will be short and theoretical. Mostly even in their deployment they have on the job or on the side training.)

“Matututo na rin sila doon sapagka’t organized naman yung contact tracing teams namin sa ibat ibang siyudad at munisipalidad,” Año added.

(They will learn during their deployment because our contact tracing teams are organized.)

The agency is eyeing to hire around 50,000 additional contact tracers to augment the detection of COVID-19 cases nationwide.

Aspiring contact tracers have only until this Wednesday to submit their requirements to DILG provincial and city offices.

EDV