Gov’t needs almost 3,000 more health workers for COVID-19 response - Nograles

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Wednesday said the government still needs nearly 2,900 health workers for the country’s COVID-19 response.

In an online forum, Nograles said that the government has so far filled up 6,510 out of the 9,365 positions under the emergency hiring program. This means the government still has to recruit 2,855 health workers.

Nograles also reported that the government hired a total of 73,306 contact tracers.

The contact tracers were tasked to track down and manage the close contacts of COVID-19 cases and offer diagnostic, counseling and treatment to confirmed cases, according to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said last month that they were awaiting the approval of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) regarding the DILG’s proposal of hiring at least 50,000 contact tracers to further intensify the contact tracing efforts. -MDM, GMA News