Bong Go commends PRRD approval of funds for contact tracers

Senator Christopher "Bong" Go has commended President Rodrigo Duterte for approving the proposal to continuously engage and hire some 15,000 contact tracers from August 2 to December 31, highlighting their critical role in the government's pandemic response operations.

"Kinokomendahan ko po ang ating gobyerno sa pag-apruba ng ating suhestyon na patuloy na i-engage at dagdagan pa ang bilang ng contact tracers sa ating bansa dahil napakahalaga ng kanilang papel sa ating laban kontra COVID-19, said Go.

"Our contact tracers play an important role in managing the pandemic and not squandering the chance for early preparation," he added.

Many Filipinos want to help put an end to the pandemic, according to the Senator. He added that hiring more contact tracers is a practical way to provide livelihood to those in need while giving them the opportunity to contribute to the bayanihan efforts against COVID-19.

"Ang pagiging contact tracer ay isang mainam na paraan para makatulong. At the same time, makakapagbigay pa tayo ng trabaho para sa mga Pilipinong nawalan ng kabuhayan," he explained.

"Habang nakakatulong sila sa laban kontra COVID-19, matutulungan rin natin ang mga contact tracers na maitawid ang kanilang mga pamilya laban sa gutom at kahirapan," Go added.

Contact tracers conduct case interviews and risk assessments, monitor close and general contacts daily for at least 14 days, and preserve accurate records of those contacts in addition to detecting suspect, probable, and proven COVID-19 cases.

"Marami po sa ating mga kababayan ang gustong tumulong. Pwede silang maging contact tracers kung bibigyan sila ng karampatang training at kompensasyon, bilang kabuhayan na rin sa mga nawalan ng trabaho," he said.

The government estimates that hiring and engaging 15,000 contact tracers from August 2 to December 31 will cost almost 1.7 billion pesos. Such number of contact tracers is expected to meet the Department of Health's required contact tracer-to-individual ratio.

Notably, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases has agreed to put NCR on ECQ from August 6 to August 20 to combat the spread of the Delta variant. With this, Go has also called for the continuous expansion of healthcare facilities, speedier vaccination rollout, increased contact tracing and genome sequencing, in addition to stricter community quarantine and border control measures.

"Maliban sa istriktong community quarantine guidelines, mas paigtingin din natin ang border control at travel restrictions sa bansang maraming kaso ng Delta variant. Hinihimok ko rin ang pamahalaan na mas palakasin pa ang contact tracing at genome sequencing sa bansa," said Go.

"Patuloy din nating dagdagan ang kapasidad ng mga healthcare facilities at, higit sa lahat, mas pabilisin ang pagbabakuna," he added.