Ateneo Diplomatic Corps (ADC)

Contact tracing is the primary tracker of the COVID-19 virus’ spread in the Philippines–the pandemic epicenter in Southeast Asia. To augment the lack of frontline workers and citizen awareness, the Ateneo Diplomatic Corps, as a local partner of Johns Hopkins University, the US Embassy in Manila, and American Spaces Philippines, launched PagSugid: A Contact Tracing Online Training. The three-day webinar was aimed at an in-depth discussion on the virus and the necessary public health interventions where the participants could partake in. Particularly, the project covered the background of the virus before it became a pandemic and it further addressed technical fundamentals and ethical considerations of contact tracing.  Beyond the typical Facebook Live set up of most online programs, the project was also designed in Coursera to provide a learning and assessment platform on the highly important ‘know-hows’ of the virus and its proper contact tracing.

Pursuant to Ateneo Diplomatic Corps’ mission on social responsibility, dynamism, and sensitivity to current societal needs, the partnership project was timely and responsive to maintain general discussions about the persisting virus and the prescribed interventions to prevent, trace and treat it. It also contributed to the grave necessity of manpower awareness, training, and hiring for the emergency units of Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City, where high rates of transmission were recorded. Upon completion of 320 participants of the course, each of them received recognized certificates eligible for IATF Contact Tracing job applications. Behind the feat for international partnerships, the project, therefore, contributed much to the long fight against the COVID-19 virus.