Mayors of the capital region refuted claims that they encountering delays in contact tracing initiatives in their respective localities.
It was contact tracing czar and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong who called out the attention of Metro Manila mayors over the alleged lack of contact tracers and transparency on reported COVID-19 infections in their cities.
Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangco said otherwise, noting that their test results are produced within a day and no lagging reported in their contact tracing efforts.
“I think he was present in the previous meetings ‘nung matataas pa ‘yung case ngNavotas…I even complained to the DOH not because their case record is higher than ours, but I always tell them na mali ang record niyo kasi mas mataas ‘yung actual cases namin kaysa doon sa records niyo,”Tiangco reiterated.
San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora also said they have enough contact tracers in their city—amounting to a total of 145 engaged individuals.
“‘Di naman po kami nagkukulang, in fact we always had enough contact tracers because we believe contact tracing is vital in our fight against COVID-19, so we make sure na hindi tayo nagkukulang kailan man sa contact tracers,” said Zamora.
Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian also defended the efforts of their city government, noting that despite pull out of some contact tracers from the Interior Department, their mega contact tracing center remains up and running efficiently.
“Our number stands at 200 manning our mega contact tracing center. On top of this, our contact tracing efforts are expansive given that we use Valtrace, our own QR code contact tracing system.”
The Metro Manila Council, made up of all mayors in Metro Manila, and the MMDA will have their meeting Monday night to discuss possible changes in quarantine restrictions.
