By CHITO CHAVEZ
Policemen will now be part of the contact tracing teams assigned to various localities after authorities were alarmed by the 7,103 COVID-19 cases reported last March 19, the highest ever recorded in a single day in the country.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said that the government’s enhanced contact tracing efforts will make it mandatory for policemen in various regions to accompany the contact tracing teams in a bid to improve in this aspect.
Under the Magalong formula of Baguio City Mayor and Contact Tracing Czar Benjamin Magalong, 1 is to 30 is the desired ratio of contact tracers to population a target which is way off the current one is to seven ratio.
In October last year, Quezon City contact tracers Jobelle Pamugas and Glizel Gascon confided that many households resent their presence at their gates for fear of discrimination from neighbors.
As foot soldiers against the spread of COVID-19, Pamugas and Gascon said that they face obstacles of rudeness, insults, even dog bites and cat scratches, every day and described contact tracing to be daunting as one has to talk to each person who a COVID-positive person had contact with in the last 14 days.
In an interview over DZBB, Malaya said the DILG has requested 20 police officers in each regional police office to be assigned in one local government unit (LGU).
In the National Capital Region (NCR), Malaya noted the police officers can make calls, do follow-ups, and monitor remotely even if they are in the provinces.
The DILG official added that they also requested 100 contact tracers from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), 60 of them will be assigned in Quezon City and the remaining 40 in Pasay City.
With COVID-19 cases precariously increasing, Malaya said that such efforts are being enforced to strengthen the government’s contact tracing program.
However, Malaya noted that the DILG will only retain 15,000 of the 50,000 contact tracers hired last year stressing that it will no longer hire anymore at this time after the department’s budget was slashed for the current year.
