The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Bulacan has started deploying 1,317 newly hired contact tracers to help reduce the COVID-19 case in the province.
DILG-Bulacan immediately assigned contact tracers to various areas to perform their duties.
Governor Daniel Fernando explained that the said total number, 80 of which are to be assigned to the Bulacan Provincial Government that will assist in tracking down COVID-19 infected individuals.
“We believe that if more people act and work together, the day will come when we will be able to end this pandemic. With the help of our contact tracers who are directly reporting to our Public Health Office, we will be able to intensify the search for potential contacts of positive cases to ensure that they can no longer interact with others to prevent further spread. The speed is important, time is of the essence,” Fernando said.
The governor also stressed that patients must be in quarantine facilities not at home.
The remaining 1,237 tracers were divided and will designated to the 21 towns and three cities in the province.
Meanwhile, Dr. Jocelyn Gomez, head of the Provincial Health Office said the contact tracers will be conducting intense case interviews, profiling individuals in close contacts with a positive patient while others will be designated as an observer inside the provincial capitol building to make sure the minimum heath standards are followed by all its employees.
According to DILG Provincial Director Darwin David, contact tracers are among the 150,000 tracers trained with the ‘Magalong formula’ targeting 37 in close contacts per COVID-19 patient.
“We also provided them with PPEs, face masks, face shields, alcohols, gloves and tissues because we knew there’s still a threat and danger in the field, so we made sure they were equipped with complete protection gear with the knowledge needed to be safe while performing their main tasks, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the province,” David said.
According to DOH, as of October 31, 2020, there are 8,199 total verified COVID-19 cases in Bulacan, of which 1,311 are active, 6, 646 have been cured and 242 deaths.