Gov’t eyeing more contact tracers — Magalong

The recruitment of the 50,000 contact tracers is a big deal but if you’ll ask me is it enough? It’s not, we will surely have a shortage

There is still a pressing need for the national government to recruit more contact tracers with the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continuing to rise, tracing czar and Baguio City Mayor Benjie Magalong said on Tuesday.

In a radio interview, he said that an ideal team of four people which include a health worker and a police investigator should be allotted to trace the close contacts of each COVID case.

However, due to the lack of staff some of

the infected patients remain to have untraced contacts.

“Four is to one is the ideal, but because we are overwhelmed with cases sometimes others are not contact traced. There are places in Manila who are calling me that they’ve tested (positive) but not one of the local government tracers has yet called them,” he said.

Although the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has an ongoing recruitment and training allotted for thousands of contact tracers, he warned that it may not be enough.

This is why Magalong is calling for more volunteers to take part in the national tracing effort.

“The recruitment of the 50,000 contact tracers is a big deal but if you’ll ask me is it enough? It’s not, we will surely have a shortage,” stated the official.

“We need volunteers, cause-oriented groups who think they have the critical thinking ability, or members with an investigative mindset and who are not exactly looking for salaries. They can always volunteer,” he added.

At present, the country has 97,400 contact tracers which will be further increased to 150,000 with the government’s ongoing hiring for tracers.