BONTOC, Mountain Province – Bontoc is now using the Contact Tracing System of the City Government of Baguio which has been proven as an effective tool to speed up contact tracing efforts and curb further spread of COVID-19.
According to Municipal Health Officer, Dr. Diga Kay Gomez, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong in one of the webinar meetings offered the use of their contact tracing system during the sudden surge of COVID-19 cases and the detection of B.1.1.7 (UK) variant in Bontoc in January 2021.
In response, two personnel from the Bontoc LGU underwent training in Baguio City to be apprised on how the system works.
Also, the Bontoc LGU employed four Information Technology (IT) graduates on a job order status to encode and input the necessary data that was gathered by the Bontoc LGU Contact Tracing and Monitoring Team. The data will be sent directly to the system of the City Government of Baguio Contact Tracing Operations Center for analysis. The result of the analysis will be fed to the COVID-19 Operations Center of Bontoc.
Through the use of the Geographical Information System, the extent of potential infections in a community can be visualized.
Dr. Gomez remarked that the use of the Contact Tracing System of the City Government of Baguio has helped speed up the contact tracing efforts in Bontoc since they have faster access to the links of confirmed COVID- 19 positive cases.
Also, it is helpful in the decision and policy making of the Municipal Inter-Agency Task Force to prevent further spread of the virus such as the imposition of granular lockdown, if necessary.
Bontoc Mayor Franklin Odsey thanked the City Government of Baguio through the leadership of Mayor Magalong for their assistance which helps improve the contact tracing capability of this capital town. By Alpine L. Killa