Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 17) — Eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic, only half of local government units in the country are capable of contact tracing.
This was revealed Tuesday during the Senate plenary debate on the 2021 budget of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Sonny Angara, who is also the sponsor of the DILG’s budget, said he was informed by the DILG that there are currently 257,000 contact tracers in the country.
The number includes new hires and barangay health workers.
However, Angara said, only 55% of LGUs have the ability to do contact tracing.
“Of the 55% capacitated, they focus on localities or LGUs where there are significant number of cases. Kumbaga iyong 45% na di pa fully capacitated, wala naman masyadong kaso doon. I guess these are the far-flung areas where there is little migration or little chance, little possibility of contagion,” Angara explains.
[Translation: Of the 55% capacitated, they focus on localities or LGUs where there are significant number of cases. The 45% that are not fully capacitated, there are not enough cases there. I guess these are the far-flung areas where there is little migration or little chance, little possibility of contagion.]
However, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Senator Kiko Pangilinan expressed concern over these numbers.
Drilon questioned why despite the 257,000 hired contact tracers, the number of COVID cases in the country continues to rise.
“That statement that 257,000 contact tracers are on board is a number that can be challenged if we look at our lack of success in combating the spread of the virus. We have the second highest infection in Southeast Asia next only to Indonesia. Per 1,000 population, we are the highest,” Drilon says.
Pangilinan said the country should not be complacent especially with the sudden spike in COVID cases in other parts of the world.
“If only 55% are capacitated and the rest are not, then these LGUs lacking capacity, you will have COVID-positive patients and their interaction with the rest of the community lacking in identification, therefore will not help in bringing down the spread,” Pangilinan said.
“You do have to test and trace these individuals and make sure they go through the right protocols,” he added.
Angara said according to the DILG, it is working on capacitating all LGUs to be able to do contact tracing in a month.
Pangilinan said this is important because once the testing and tracing have been improved, the country can focus on effective isolation and treatment.
