Palace bares national action plan vs. COVID-19

The Philippine government on Wednesday presented the National Action Plan (NAP) aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, spokesperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), announced the plan in a news conference in Malacañang.

Citing the March 24 resolution of the IATF, Nograles said the plan included the adoption of measures "that will provide clear, accurate and timely information to support the operations against the COVID-19 pandemic."

It also aims to implement measures to avert new cases and to facilitate the detection, identification and isolation of COVID-19 carriers as well to mitigate the impact of the disease on the social, economic and personal security of Filipinos.

The IATF will serve as the policy-making body of the operations in addressing the threat of the disease while the National Task Force (NTF) COVID-19 will serve as the operational command to be headed by the Secretary of National Defense.

The National Incident Command, meanwhile, will take charge of the day to day concerns and operations in the fight against COVID-19.

A task group on response operations will be headed by the Department of Health (DOH) with the support from other government agencies to address matters such as enforcement and security, food security, disaster risk management and labor issues.

The IATF also said a task group on resource management and logistics will ensure that the critical needs of all concerned agencies will be addressed and provided.

Another task group will be in charge of communications.

Reports on the progress on the NAP will be given regularly by NAP chairman Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and NAP vice chairman Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, according to President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines continued to rise on Wednesday after the DOH confirmed 84 new infections, bringing the total to 636.

The COVID-19 death toll also climbed to 38 after the DOH reported three new fatalities. -NB, GMA News