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Are We Abandoning Contact-Tracing?: Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto says it appears that the government is abandoning contract tracing as a strategy to combat the spread of COVID-19 after revealing that there is no allocation next year for contact-tracing in the proposed P4.056 trillion national budget. Recto, during the hybrid plenary session Tuesday, November 17, 2020, also raised the second or third wave of COVID-19 cases in Europe and the United States and pointed out the need to contact-trace and immediately test 30,000 individuals per 1,000 positive cases. “I do not think that is wise to abandon contact-tracing immediately. I just want to put that on record. It is better to be sure. And since many are jobless, it is better that we will be able to provide jobs,” Recto said. (Screen grab/ Senate PRIB)