ILOILO City – The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) will train 204 more medical police personnel for the contact tracing of those who were possibly exposed to cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The PRO-6 currently has 215 contact tracing teams working across the region. These are made up of 1,473 contact tracers.
“We have personnel who are graduates of medical courses. We will utilize them for contact tracing, but they need to be trained. Contact tracing is a key strategy to prevent the further spread of COVID-19,” said Police Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, PRO-6 spokesperson.
The Police Regional Office in Central Visayas recently sent two teams to Western Visayas to conduct training to intensify COVID-19 contact tracing in the region, the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) announced.
Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, Central Visayas police director, said two teams, including a seven-man team from the Regional Intelligence Division-7 and a three-man team from the Cebu City Police Office, first conducted contact tracing training in Bacolod City.
A total of 190 individuals graduated from the contact tracing course on Sept. 3 until Sept. 6 in Bacolod City.
Those who completed the training came from the PRO-6, Provincial Health Office of Negros Occidental, Bacolod City Health Office, Bureau of Fire Protection Region 6 and the Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Brigade.
“We believe that the contact tracing teams we established in Region 6 are a game-changer,” said Ferro.
The same team moved to Iloilo City for another contact tracing training.
The training manual was produced out of the combined teachings of Baguio City mayor and the country’s contact tracing czar Benjie Magalong and the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Contact Tracing Course.
Ferro described the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Contact Tracing Course as “very” comprehensive and systematic.
Central Visayas alone, 9,543 individuals were trained to specialize in the contact tracing, said Ferro./PN
