DoLE to hire contact tracers for local govts

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) will hire displaced workers as contact tracers to help blunt the spike in Covid-19 infections in the National Capital Region (NCR) and four adjoining provinces.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd said funding for the recruitment effort would come from DoLE’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced (Tupad) program.

Under Tupad, displaced, underemployed and seasonal workers will be hired for 10 to 30 days, depending on the nature of work they will do.

Bello said he had volunteered to hire contact tracers because the Department of the
Interior and Local Government does not have enough funds to recruit more contact tracers.

On top of Tupad, Bello said the Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), a one-time cash assistance program to formal workers affected by the pandemic, would start accepting applications from employers on behalf of their workers.

CAMP provides a P5,000 cash assistance to each formal sector worker displaced by the pandemic.

Bello said LGUs would need to train recruits for contact tracing for 10 to 15 days.

He acknowledged the “urgent need to strengthen the contract tracing efforts in the country, and displaced and disadvantaged workers under the emergency employment program of the department will be hired as contact tracers.”

Bello asked for more patience and understanding from the public and urged workers and employers to continue with the strict adherence to public health and safety protocols.
The Bayanihan to Recover As One Act (Bayanihan 2) allocates a total of P16.4 billion to DoLE for cash assistance.