LGUs in the Philippines

Gov’t deploys 5,754 more contact tracers to Metro Manila in May

Dwight de Leon

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The national government will deploy over 5,000 additional contact tracers to Metro Manila in May.

Rappler.com photo

The deployment of additional personnel comes more than a month after contact tracing czar Benjamin Magalong said contact tracing in the Philippines was 'deteriorating'

Contact tracing efforts in Metro Manila will get a needed boost as the government is expected to deploy over a thousand additional COVID-19 contact tracers to local government units (LGUs) in the first week of May, Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said on Monday, May 3.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) signed a pact on May 1, committing to provide LGUs in the National Capital Region with some 5,754 contact tracers in May.

That number is higher than the 4,754 contact tracers that the government committed to Metro Manila LGUs in April.

“Nasa 2,696 na po ang na-assess natin. More than 10,000 po yung nag-apply. We expect siguro by this week na mayroon nang magsisimulang magtrabaho na contact tracers — around 1,000 ay makakatapos na sa kanilang training na isasagawa ng DILG at Local Government Academy,” Malaya said in an interview with state-run PTV-4.

(We have assessed 2,696 applicants out of the more than 10,000 who applied. We expect that around 1,000 contact tracers will begin work this week after completing the training conducted by DILG and the Local Government Academy.)

Of the 5,754 contact tracers, Quezon City will get the biggest chunk of personnel with 1,347, followed by Caloocan with 713, and Manila with 707.

The new batch of contact tracers will join the 2,381 personnel already deployed by DILG in Metro Manila for a six-month contract until June.

The new deployments however are only under a three-month contact.

“Kapag natapos ang tatlong buwan nilang kontra, posible naman pong ma-renew sila (When their three-month contract ends, there’s a possibility it might be renewed),” Malaya said, when asked why the new contact tracers are under a shorter contract.

Gov’t deploys 5,754 more contact tracers to Metro Manila in May
Why this matters

The deployment of new personnel came over a month after the Philippines’ contact tracing czar Benjamin Magalong said in a House inquiry that contact tracing in the country is “deteriorating”.

Data he presented showed contact tracing ratio in Metro Manila in the latter half of March was 1:3, when the ideal ratio in urban settings for COVID-19 cases and their contacts is between 1:30 and 1:37.

 A Newsbreak in-depth article in April also took a closer look at the situation of contact tracers, many of whom were overworked but underpaid.

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Philippine contact tracers: The forgotten frontliners

Magalong in March said the lack of trained contact tracers is among the reasons why such efforts in the Philippines is “worsening”. – Rappler.com

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Dwight de Leon

Dwight de Leon is a multimedia reporter who covers President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Malacañang, and the Commission on Elections for Rappler.