633 quarantined in Albay after contact with COVID-positive enumerator —Salceda

A total of 633 individuals are undergoing home quarantine in Polangui, Albay after they came in contact with an enumerator who tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Albay Representative Joey Salceda said Tuesday.

Due to this, Salceda has urged the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to temporarily suspend door-to-door and face-to-face data collection for the National ID system and other surveys.

“If an infection is confirmed, the enumerator would have been a super-spreader,” Salceda said in his letter to the PSA.

“Even if a super-spreader event does not take place, the protocols have forced contacts of the enumerator to quarantine, interrupting their livelihoods,” he added.

As individuals at risk of infection, Salceda said enumerators should also be vaccinated against the illness.

“While I support the National ID system and completing it as soon as possible to help distribute necessary social programs, we should conduct data gathering activities in ways that do not endanger the lives of our citizens,” he said.

He also urged the PSA to reach out to his office for help with the activities.

The PSA targeted mass registration for the program in mid-2020, but its implementation was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Philippines has reported 953,106 confirmed cases, including 16,141 who have died. — Joahna Lei Casilao/BM, GMA News