Better contact tracing in Davao observed

THE DEPARTMENT of Health XI noted better contact tracing practices done in Davao Region. This after the country’s Contact Tracing czar and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong visited the region and transferred Baguio’s best practices on contact tracing.

DOH XI head of the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit Dr. Cle Fe Tabada shared in the One Davao Virtual Presser that much has improved in the contact tracing activities in the different localities under Davao Region.

“Although contact tracing is primarily handled by the local government unit but technically it’s  not a solo job of the LGU. Each LGU comes up with a team composed of different agencies helping together for this purpose,” Tabada said.

The DOH XI official noted that almost all of the LGUs have created this team, and increased the number of persons helping the LGU on this. The DOH also reported that more team members were trained.

“We observed that recently they have reduced the number of days needed to complete the contact tracing process as they have already been trained and more people are now involved in the process.”

Davao region, Tabada added, now follows the contact tracing system shared by the Baguio City experience and brought down to the region by the contact tracing czar.

However, the official stressed that due to the intricacy on the way people connect with each other, the DOH XI still  sees the need to encourage community members to also help out enhance the contact tracing system.

People who are not even part of the team or those trained are encouraged to help out by sharing information needed to have a more efficient contact tracing result.

The DOH XI welcomes and is currently looking into the QR Code system done by the Davao de Norte Province and all its cities and municipalities as a way of improving contact tracing activities in the region.

Another strategy that the DOH XI and the LGU are focusing on is the prioritization in monitoring and provision of intervention and services to the top five barangays with the most number of confirmed COVID 19 cases.

In the past 14 days, the DOH XI identified barangays Tomas Monteverde Sr., Buhangin, 26-C, 76-A, and 11-B as the barangays in Davao City with the most number of new cases. Intervention such as contact tracing as well as provision of other services have been focused in these areas. (By Rudolph Ian Alama)