Contact tracers will be hired on permanent or temporary basis —Palace

COVID-19 contact tracers will be hired on a permanent or temporary basis, Malacañang said Wednesday, as the government ramps up its efforts to isolate and treat patients. 

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced the plan in his regular press briefing, citing information from Socioeconomic Planning Acting Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua. 

Roque also said the government has enough funds to support the hiring of contact tracers, which was proposed by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III on Monday to address the job displacement problem amid the health crisis and boost efforts to stop the transmission of the deadly virus. 

In the same briefing, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said the contact tracers will receive training. 

“For 2020 and even in 2021, we will continue to trace, isolate, treat,” he said. 

The Philippines has reported 11,350 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, with 2,106 recoveries and 751 deaths. —KG, GMA News