Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 18) — More than 800 additional contact tracers will be deployed across Metro Manila to assist local governments in the fight against COVID-19, an official said Thursday.
Of the 802 contact tracers, Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the 362 are from the Philippine National Police and 100 from the Bureau of Fire Protection.
“The chiefs of police and the fire marshals have been instructed to coordinate with their respective LGUs for their respective requirements,” he said in a statement.
In January, the DILG assigned 2,381 more contact tracers to the region to do the job until June.
He said the National Capital Region — the COVID-19 epicenter since the beginning of the pandemic — so far has 9,386 contact tracers, most of whom are in Manila.
Nationwide, there are 255,854 contact tracers, which Malaya said is “more than sufficient for the country’s needs.”
He said that the ideal ratio set by the Department of Health is one contact tracer for a population of 800.
“With our number of contact tracers, we have exceeded DOH standard. Per the DOH, the ideal contact tracer to population ratio is 1:800 so to fully cover 108 million Filipinos, we actually need a total of 135,000 contact tracers only,” he added.
