Job opening: Over 4,000 contact tracers needed in Metro Manila

The Department of Labor and Employment is hiring 4,754 additional contact tracers for Metro Manila, an official said Monday.

They will be paid P537 per day for 3 months and will be provided with personal protective equipment by the local government, according to Ma. Karina Perida-Trayvilla, head of the DOLE Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns.

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“Mas preferred po ang residente kung saan sila magcoconduct ng contact tracing para less ang transportation cost,” she said in Teleradyo.

Interested applicants must be high school graduates, have relevant experience, and know how to use a telephone, cellphone, and internet.

They also need to submit a barangay certificate and medical certificate, according to Perida-Trayvilla.

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Earlier this month, contact tracers lamented that some people do not take contact tracing seriously. Others wrote the names “Hitler” and “Spongebob” on contact tracing forms.

Also read: Bedridden residents in Manila to be vaccinated via home service

Job opening: Over 4,000 contact tracers needed in Metro Manila

In a report by Lilian Tiburico in “Stand for Truth,” some  in Metro Manila, the center of COVID-19 cases at present, admitted that they also cannot  everyone on the contact tracing forms.

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Their duty sometimes lasts more than 12  due to the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19.

“Honestly, pen and paper na contact tracing hindi po ako sang-ayon diyan. Kasi unang una hindi naman lahat ng tao may dala na ballpen, so nagshe-share sila. Isa rin ‘yan sa cause kung bakit kumakalat ang COVID,” said field contact tracer Holly Gabrielle Dela Paz.

“Kunwari, merong pumuntang positive patient sa establishment, sa mall, matre-trace back ba namin lahat ng nagpunta doon? Hindi naman po,” said Dela Paz.

At present, the tracers only contact household members or relatives of COVID-19 patients, unlike what they used to do when it comes to second and third-generation contacts.

Contact tracing czar Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong admitted that the level of contact tracing in the country has dropped to only 1: 3 ratio from 1: 7 in January. This is far from the ideal 30 to 35 close contacts.