The IATF announced Sunday that COVID-19 patients are now required to disclose their personal information for faster contact tracing.
“Para po matulungan ang contact-tracing efforts ng ating pamahalaan, mandatory o required na po ang paglalahad ng personal na impormasyon pagdating sa ating mga COVID-19 cases,” Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said in a virtual press briefing.
(To help our government on its efforts for contact tracing, disclosing personal information for our COVID-19 cases is now mandatory.)
Contact tracing the process of identification of persons who may have come into contact with an infected person and subsequent collection of further information about these contacts.
It is remembered that one of the first doctors who died of the virus was due to a patient who lied and did not disclose the information vital for diagnoses, such as travel history and previous medical conditions.
The patients’ close contacts are expected to come forward for voluntary testing after the disclosure. In recent weeks, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases urged hospitals to seek the patient’s consent first before revealing their identities and condition.
Baguio City is the first LGU to reveal the identities for their COVID-19 patients for faster contact tracing. Baguio was hailed to be a model city in containing and fighting the pandemic virus.
DOH said they would meet today with the IATF to discuss the extent of information the patient would disclose.
“Lilinawin pa ito mamaya sa IATF ano ba iyong extent ng disclosure ng infomation patungkol sa pasyente,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
(This will be cleared later at the inter-agency task force: the extent of the disclosure of information concerning patients.)
Office of Civil Defense takes over contact tracing
Nograles, the spokesperson for the task force, said the Office of Civil Defense is now in charge of contact tracing which was previously assigned to the Department of Health.
The DOH reported 50 new fatalities from the COVID-19 on Sunday, the highest number since the beginning of the local outbreak, bringing the death toll to 297.