Baguio shares contact tracing method with Cebu

BAGUIO CITY: A five-man delegation from Baguio City, led by Mayor Benjamin Magalong, will fly to Cebu City on July 8 to share the city’s contact tracing method with the Cebu City government.

The team will stay for three days to train key police personnel led by Central Visayas Police Chief BGen. Albert Ignatius Ferro to improve their contact tracing system and curb the virus transmission.

Ferro in a report said he personally sought the help of Magalong, his former boss in the Philippine National Police, to share the technology instrumental in keeping Baguio’s coronavirus disease cases to minimum.

The mayor, who earlier expressed willingness to share the technology to other local government units readily agreed to Ferro’s request.

He earlier worked out similar training for Baguio’s neighboring provinces, which experienced a spike in virus cases.

The system’s conceptual framework involves identification or detection of the source and possible sources of infection; isolation of these persons; testing; and tracing of the close and remote contacts for quarantine, testing, disinfection and medical protocols.

It uses cognitive interviewing, a police questioning method to establish the links of a patient. The system also involves convincing patients to disclose their identities to help in contact tracing, which is crucial as full disclosure can help alert contacts and cut down tracing time and resources.

Another facet is the use of a computeraided system, which Magalong said is a powerful tool in establishing the entire picture on the links of the patients. Baguio City has 20 contact tracing teams with a total of 634 members.