More than 35K hired as contact tracers; recruitment to finish next week —DILG

The government has hired a total of 35,345 people so far as contact tracers as the recruitment is expected to end next week, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Saturday.

Interviewed at the Laging Handa public briefing, DILG spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said 27,879 of those hired were already trained and deployed in the different local government units (LGUs) in the country.

Further, 65,000 people have applied, of whom 57,743 have been processed.

"Lumalabas nga po dito sa mga naproseso naming aplikasyon na marami namang kwalipikado kaya nakapag-hire na po kami ng 35,345," Malaya said.

"I will expect po na in the next week, matatapos na po ng DILG 'yung pagha-hire ng additional contact tracers at maide-deploy na po namin sila sa lahat ng LGUs sa buong bansa," he added.

The DILG earlier said it will continue to hire contact tracers until they reach their target of at least 50,000 as part of the efforts to combat COVID-19 pandemic.

Those who would be given priority in the hiring process include contractual personnel whose employment were not renewed, overseas Filipino workers whose employment were disrupted, local employees whose service have been recently terminated, and barangay health workers.

The agency added that to qualify, the applicant must have a degree or must acquire a college level in an allied medical or criminology course.

Contact tracers could earn a minimum of P18,784 per month in a contract of service status. —KG, GMA News