THE Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) 7 will send 40 trained personnel to assist in Cebu City’s contact tracing efforts.
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Assistant Secretary Alexander Macario announced this during a press interview on Monday, July 13, 2020.
“We are expecting more at the end of this month. I have just talked with Gen. Jose Embang Jr., BFP 7 director. He said he will be sending more to augment the contact tracing team in Cebu City,” Macario said in a mix of Tagalog and English.
The 40 BFP 7 personnel and 40 police personnel trained by Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong will join the 35 teams organized by the City Government to conduct contact tracing in the barangays.
Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, who was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as Covid-19 overseer in Cebu City, and other officials of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases emphasized the need to strengthen the contact tracing capability of local authorities.
That way, individuals who had direct contact with persons who tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 can be isolated immediately, preventing them from spreading the disease to others.
Mayor Edgardo Labella earlier said the City’s aim was to organize 80 teams, composed of five individuals per team, to conduct contact tracing. (PAC, JKV)