San Pablo City, Laguna—The National Task Force against COVID-19 and CODE Team held a successful dialogue with government officials and private sector members here on August 15 at the Palmeras Restaurant.
Both sides discussed strategies to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 at the community level here.
In the NTF assessment, Secretary Martin M. Andanar, PCOO Chief and NTF Implementer, said the local government, led by Mayor Loreto Amante, was quick to respond to the implementation of programs to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Andanar said he also had good cooperation with provincial and national government agencies for the implementation of minimum health standards against COVID-19.
He also called for distributing accurate information on reliable social media platforms to prevent an “infodemic.”
Testing czar Secretary Vince Dizon, NTF Deputy Chief Implementer, lauded the innovative programs San Pablo City is running.
One of these is the launch of the song-and-dance routine of an Anti-COVID Mascot, which shows the use of distancing stick for social distancing, wearing a face mask, using alcohol or sanitizer and hand washing, and having various laws or ordinances related to COVID-19 strictly enforced in the city.
NTF Medical Adviser Dr. Teodoro Herbosa pushed for the availability and use of the QR Code to all who attended the program, which can be helpful and an effective way to speed up contact tracing of those infected with COVID-19 and those who come in contact with the person.
Amante was grateful to the NTF and CODE Team for visiting the city and holding the dialogue to intensify the city’s community-focused strategy to fight the current epidemic.
The mayor also thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for continuing to assist the city in providing various financial assistance to the poor here and helping health workers and frontliners to carry out their duties.
According to the Department of Health, CODE Team is a “patient and community-focused response strategy with key elements incorporated from the Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Test-Treat strategy.
Key components of CODE include (1) community engagement activities to promote preventive behaviors, (2) active case finding via house-to-house symptom checks, (3) RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) testing for symptomatic patients, and (4) Oplan Kalinga application for those needing quarantine and isolation.
The event also highlights the distribution of face masks pursuant to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s directive to strictly enforce minimum health standards in communities.
The program seeks to provide 20 million face masks to vulnerable sectors, including households with senior citizens, pregnant women, special health conditions, and Social Amelioration Program (SAP) beneficiaries.