Duterte OKs fund for rehiring of 15,000 contact tracers until December

FILE PHOTO: Various neighborhoods in Baguio City have been locked down to allow contract tracers to locate people who have interacted with coronavirus. INQUIRER/VINCENT CABREZA

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the proposed fund for the rehiring of 15,000 contact tracers until December.

Senator Bong Go, Duterte’s long-time aide, made the announcement in a statement Friday.

The funding approved by Duterte will cover the payment for 15,000 contact tracers from August until the end of December, according to Go.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), in a separate statement, said it earlier requested an additional P1.7 billion budget for the extension of the services of these contact tracers.

Their contracts would have expired this month, the DILG noted.

“Our contact tracers play an important role in managing the pandemic and not squandering the chance for early preparation,” Go said.

He added that the rehiring of contact tracers would not only help in the country’s pandemic response, it will also provide them with a source of income amid job losses inflicted by the health crisis.

Duterte’s approval of the fund for the rehiring of contact tracing comes as Metro Manila reverts to a hard lockdown or enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) status from August 6-20..

READ: ECQ begins: Metro LGUs locked down as separate ‘bubbles’

KGA