On his first day as the Philippines’ new coronavirus tracing chief Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong said on Monday, July 13, that the country’s contact tracing system, a crucial initiative in efforts to curb the outbreak, will “radically” change in its structure.
“Gusto ko lang pong banggitin sa inyo na radically ay babaguhin po natin iyong structure ng ating contact tracing system. Ang itatawag po natin diyan is iyong “contact tracing ecosystem”…. It’s a partnership between health workers at iyong ating pong law enforcement investigators,” Magalong said during a press briefing in Malacañang.
(I want to say that we will radically change the structure of our contact tracing system. We will call it the “contact tracing ecosystem”…. It’s a partnership between health workers and law enforcement investigators.)
Magalong made the statement after he was introduced as one of the country’s 3 new “Anti-COVID” czars on Monday. He was named along with Public Works Secretary Mark Villar who would take on the role as “isolation czar” and Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega who would serve as “treatment czar.”
In revamping the country’s contact tracing system, Magalong brings with him his experience as a local official at the frontlines of the outbreak and his years of investigative work as former chief of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management.