The training of 5,000 new contact tracers and re-training of 249,000 current contact tracers nationwide is set to start this week, contact tracing czar and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong confirmed in a Laging Handa public briefing on Tuesday (May 4).
He said he is only waiting for the “go-signal” to conduct the initial training of the 5,000 contact tracers recruited through the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) TUPAD program.
The training module for the 5,000 new contact tracers will be recorded, and the recording will be used for the online re-training of 249,000 current contact tracers. Magalong added that he and his team will be monitoring the re-training and answering questions.
“Unang-una, ang hinihintay ko na lang po ay iyong go-signal po na mag-umpisa na po iyong training. Umpisahan ho namin iyong 5,000 na bagong contact tracers na na-recruit via TUPAD po natin ng DOLE,” he said.
“At doon po mag-uumpisa iyong ating documentation, para ho kapag inumpisahan na natin iyong training ng 249,000, ay puwede na ho nating i-record na lang, at iyong recordings na lang po ang gagamitin po natin sa pagtuturo sa kanila.”
Magalong said the 5,000 contract tracers will be deployed to the National Capital Region Plus, while the 249,000 contact tracers are deployed nationwide. He said a re-training is needed due to the emerging new variants of the coronavirus.
He also explained the current situation in terms of the contact tracing efficiency ratio.
“Overall, ang contact tracing po natin nandito na sa 1:4 lang. So malayung-malayo na po, ibinaba na po natin sa 1:15 na lang, hindi na 1:37 ang ginawa po nating standards na contact tracing efficiency ratio, binaba na po natin ng 1:15 to be more realistic amidst ho nitong surges po ng kaso ho natin.”
Meanwhile, Magalong is currently waiting for the StaySafe App proponents to submit certain documents so that it can be used nationwide.
Staysafe.ph is the government’s official contact tracing application. Among its features are health condition reporting, COVID-19 update, local government unit (LGU) real-time case management system, establishment protection system, and LGU heat map and response system.
READ MORE: http://152.42.253.13/staysafe-ph-contact-tracing-app-now-turned-over-to-government/
Report from Naomi Tiburcio/NGS-jlo
