Bacolod trains contact tracers in Covid-19 hit villages

LEADERS OF BARANGAY Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTs) in 18 barangays most affected by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) here have started training contract tracing with the City Health Office (CHO).   

City administrator Em Ang said in a statement on Tuesday night the participants are attending the echo-seminars being conducted by the Contact Tracing Operations Center headed by Dr. Luz Ma-apni.

The initial 18 villages included barangays 4, 19, 31, 32, 33, 41, Alijis, Bata, Banago, Estefania, Mansilingan, Montevista, Singcang-Airport, Sum-ag, Taculing, Tangub, Villamonte, and Vista Alegre.

“Given the recent sudden spike in Covid-19 cases, we need a large number of trained contact tracers to quickly locate patients, assist in isolating them, and identify people with whom the patients have been in close contact,” Ang said.

She added that contact tracing teams should also ensure that identified patients and contacts do not interact with others to protect the community from further spread of the virus.

The lecturers of the echo-seminars at the Bacolod Respiratory Outpatient Center inside the BAYS Center were health, police and barangay officials and personnel who attended the seminar in Iloilo City on July 29 led by Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, chief of the National Task Force for Contact Tracing.

Aside from Ma-apni, those who represented Bacolod, which has a total of 61 barangays, were village chiefs Leandro de Leon of Vista Alegre and Glo-Ann Tambasen of Montevista; CHO nurse Gladys Caballes; and Maj. Sherlock Gabana and Cpl. William Martin of the Bacolod City Police Office.

During the seminar, they were equipped with special skills in contact tracing, which they are now sharing with the trainees in the barangays.

In Bacolod, two village chiefs and a councilman have tested positive for Covid-19.

Their respective barangay halls have been locked down and decontaminated.

The city government also imposed localized lockdowns in more than 500 households in various villages. (By Nanette Guadalquiver)