CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Aug. 20 (PIA) – The Department of Health (DOH) -10 holds a training on contact tracing with contact tracing czar, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong to enhance Northern Mindanao's contact tracing capabilities to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Magalong shared Bagui City's best practices and sagacity in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting contact tracing as a critical tool in eliminating COVID-19 as he gave analytical, cognitive, and interpersonal approaches in investigating potential suspected cases and, at the same time, presenting areas of improvement for the region’s contact tracers like raising the figures of individuals being traced.
“Ngayon one is to four siya, so our intention is to itaas yan, one is to thirty or thirty seven per patient, in short, mababa yung case niyo pero relatively looking at the numbers at the people being contact traced mababa din,” Contact Tracing Czar Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said.
(For now, it’s one is to four. Our intention is to raise the numbers [of people being contact traced], one is to thirty or thirty-seven per patient. In short, you have low cases but relatively looking at the number at the people being contact traced, it’s also low.)
In pointing out the weak areas and introducing new innovations, the contact tracing czar also encouraged seamless collaboration between government agencies for the utilization of each department’s forte as crucial for a more harmonized and streamlined strategy in contact tracing.
“Kailangan talaga ng collaboration between our Philippine National Police and our Health office, dapat tight yun, because the strength of one compliments the strength of the other, doctors and nurses cannot do it alone, and contact tracing is similar to investigation, so it requires someone with an investigative mindset," he said.
(There really needs to be a collaboration between our Philippine National Police and our health office. It needs to be tight, because the strength of one compliments the strength of the other.)
Also present in yesterday's opening of the training were National Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (NIATF-IED) Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin M. Andanar.
PCOO Secretary Martin M. Andanar, Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) for Northern Mindanao lauded the region for its efforts at responding the COVID-19 pandemic, as he acknowledged the region’s interventions pursued by the health sector, economic sector, and local governance.
“Ang atong best practices diri sa Northern Mindanao angay ni siya masundan sa uban rehiyon, aduna atong RIATF for COVID-19 nag kompanya para ma accelerate jud ang efforts nato to establish more testing laboratories, aduna pud ang ato movement to economic recovery sa Northern Mindanao Task force economic cluster na engaged sa Regional Chamber of Commerce to implement the regional economic plan. Aduna pud atong syudad diri sa Cagayan De Oro na una nag implementa sa anti-discrimination ordinance sa COVID-19,” he said.
(Our best practices here in Northern Mindanao should be replicated by the other regions. Our RIATF for COVID-19 has campaigned to accelerate and establish more testing laboratories. We also have our movement to economic recovery here from the Northern Mindanao task force economic cluster that is engaged with the Regional Chamber of Commerce to implement the regional economic plan. Our city here in Cagayan De Oro was also the first to implement an anti-discrimination ordinance for COVID-19.)
The NIATF-IED in harmonization with its regional counterparts aims to create an efficient and comprehensive response to the pandemic through its refined contract tracing system and eventually end the scourge of COVID-19 plaguing the nation. (VPSBautista/PIA10)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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