Government needs 50,000 more contact tracers

MANILA, Philippines — The government is still looking to hire an additional 50,000 contact tracers to help in the country’s fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said yesterday.

The country currently has a total of 65,574 contact tracers nationwide, according to Año, but the government needs more.

It has been pushing for additional contact tracers since last month, but funding is still not available.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is eyeing the mass hiring of contact tracers this month after it gets funding approval from the Department of Budget and Management.

Still, Año said local government units (LGUs) should be continuing to hire their own contact tracers under their own local budgets to fight the pandemic.

The DILG had earlier issued a memorandum circular directing local chief executives to form their task forces against COVID-19, including a team for contact tracing.

“We’re just waiting for the budget, but the areas continuously hire contact tracers for the program under their budget. We will ensure its efficiency because tracing the contacts and referral of suspected cases to isolation facilities will rely on this,” Año said in Filipino in a pre-State of the Nation Address briefing.

The DILG chief said he wants all barangays and business centers to have contact tracers to ensure more efficient tracing. Sheila Crisostomo