Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas dismissed as ridiculous the suggestion of employing “chismosas” or rumormongers in contact tracing efforts of local government units (LGU) amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The mayor also described the suggestion as “out of this world” as he called for serious solutions and policies amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
“Waay ko ya gapati nga kuhaon ta ang mga chismoso ukon chismosa, let us come up sang mga serious nga sabat sa aton problema. I find it difficult to understand how some people come up with ridiculous ideas, para sa akon out of this world,” he said in a press conference on Monday.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Region 7 director Police Brig. Gen. Albert Ignatius Ferro came up with the suggestion of hiring chismosas to lead contact tracing in communities.
Meanwhile, Treñas said the city government will intensify its contact tracing efforts by training more contact tracers.
Recently, the city expressed its intent to use a mobile application developed by the QVID Team to aid in contact tracing.
The application will generate QR codes for each of its user which will be used when entering the establishments.
Guimaras logs first local case
Meanwhile, Guimaras province recorded its first local case of COVID-19 infection on Tuesday.
This is based on the latest bulletin released by the Department of Health 6.
The patient is a 22-year-old male from Buenavista who is admitted to a hospital in Iloilo City.
The patient last went home to Guimaras on July 15 and 16 and got sick upon returning to Iloilo City where he works for a fast food chain. He underwent swab testing after showing signs of COVID-19 and later tested positive.
Mayor Eugene Reyes of Buenavista said contact tracing in Iloilo City and their town are ongoing, particularly on the dates the patient traveled between the city and the island.
Meanwhile, Western Visayas logged 17 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total tally so far to 1,158, according to the health department.
The new cases are in Iloilo City (6), Iloilo province (4), Capiz (2), Negros Occ (2), Guimaras (1), Aklan (1), Bacolod City (1).
The 17 new cases include 9 local transmissions, 5 local stranded individuals, and 3 repatriated overseas workers.
Region 6 still has 513 active cases, 629 recoveries and 16 fatalities. (FAA and ERS)
