THE Department of Interior and Local Government and the municipal government in Candaba town, Pampanga hired additional contact tracers to speed up the identification of individuals who had close contact with coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients in this town.

Municipal Local Government Officer Josephine Villanueva said 17 contact tracers have been deployed across the municipality to monitor and immediately conduct contact tracing procedures when needed.

She said all hired personnel have graduated with medical, criminology or four-year courses and have undergone a two-day skills training webinar prior to deployment.

"Each contact tracer will be receiving P19,000 monthly salary until December or if they are still needed by next year," she said.

Mayor Rene Maglanque said the contact tracers will augment the municipal and barangay health workers in conducting contact tracing procedures

"The augmented force would be a big relief for our health workers as well as police and firemen who have been tasked to do the contact tracing measures whenever we have positive cases in the past seven months," he said.

Maglanque also said the local government will be shouldering the additional expenses of the hired contact tracers, such as gas and meal allowances.

In return, the mayor only asked the new contact tracers to ensure all positive and suspect Covid-19 patients and those they had close contact with will be properly accounted for and isolated.

"Their role is very crucial in containing the virus from its origin, so it is important that you do your best while also ensuring that you make yourself protected from being infected," he said.