DILG hires 18% of required contact tracers

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has so far hired 10,136 of 55,000 required contact tracers although the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had already released half of the P5 billion allocated under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2).

“The hiring of [contact tracers] is being expedited as time is of the essence in our fight against COVID-19. Now, more than 10,000 have already been hired and we intend to hit our commitment to employ the 50,000 [contact tracers] prescribed in the Bayanihan 2 before the end of this month,” Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said in a statement on Friday.

Año said 47,000 applications for contact tracers [or 85 percent of target] have now been processed by the DILG but the agency is “expecting to receive more applications in the coming days.”

Año earlier said the DILG would need 50,000 more contact tracers to meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended ratio of one contact tracer for every 800 people.

Dr. Takeshi Kasai, director of the WHO office for Western Pacific, and WHO country representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasing he recommended the increase in the number of contact tracers as part of the country’s best practices in response to the pandemic.

The WHO recognized as a best practice the new contact tracing system developed by Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong, which combined digital technology and cognitive interviews by contact tracers.

The DILG chief said there were 238,000 contact tracers in government but most were volunteers and augmentation personnel from the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection and Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The DILG earlier planned to deploy 20,000 additional contract tracers in Luzon, and 15,000 each in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the first batch of contact tracers had already undergone training.

“We will not let them start without training,” Malaya said in a statement. “We are looking for the most fit and qualified individuals for the job because their job will be very challenging for the next three months. Their work on the ground is crucial in our battle against COVID-19.”

In a text message on Friday, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado confirmed that the DBM released on Oct. 2 half of the P5-billion budget for the purpose after the special allotment release order was approved on Oct. 1.