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Over 230k contact tracers recruited, 50k more to be hired —Año


Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Wednesday said 50,000 more contact tracers will be hired in the coming days in addition to the 238,000 that were already recruited to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Interviewed on Unang Hirit, Año said the 238,000 contact tracers are mostly volunteers who are deployed only in areas they prefer.

“Sa ngayon, meron tayong 238,000 contact tracers. Karamihan dito mga volunteers, augmentation mula sa Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, at Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he said.

“Normally, they were deployed kung saan sila nagbo-volunteer,” he added.

The 50,000 contact tracers to be hired can be deployed in areas where workforce for contacting is really needed, according to Año.

“Itong mga contact tracers natin na ito, madi-deploy natin 'to all around the region kung saan sila kailangan,” he said.

Año, a former military chief of staff, said 20,000 contact tracers will be deployed to Luzon; 15,000 to the Visayas; and another 15,000 to Mindanao.

The contact tracers will be hired per province but they will be deployed across a specific region, Año said.

“Normally naman 'yung 80 percent ng cases sa isang lugar ay nasa 20 percent ng mga baranagay nila o siyudad. So doon natin itatalaga itong mga additional para magkaroon ng reinforcement,” he said. —KBK, GMA News