HELPING HAND. Visayas Inter-Agency Task Force Covid-19 chief implementer Mel Feliciano (right) answers questions in a press conference Thursday (Nov. 5, 2020) as to the strategies to be adopted in addressing the rising Covid-19 cases in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur. With Feliciano is Pagadian City Mayor Samuel Co. (PNA Photo by Leah D. Agonoy)
PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur – The local Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has been advised to duplicate the strategies implemented in Cebu and Bacolod in addressing the dreaded virus.
This was the advice of Mel Feliciano, Visayas IATF Covid-19 chief implementer, who was sent here by the national IATF to help address the rising cases of Covid-19 after the UP-OCTA Research Team identified the city as one of the nine high-risk areas in the country.
Upon his arrival Wednesday, Feliciano met with the local IATF to assess the situation and help put up an Emergency Operation Center (EOC).
“So long as the EOC could be placed immediately and with the system and intervention programs in place, I don't think the cases will continue to rise as how it happened in Cebu City,” Feliciano said Thursday.
“Discipline and awareness of the community on proper wearing of masks, social distancing, and proper hygiene would solve 85 percent of the problem,” he said.
The local IATF reported 209 Covid-19 cases with 10 deaths in the city as of Thursday. Of the total, 106 are active cases, with 93 recoveries.
Feliciano said the Covid-19 cases in Pagadian are still on the rise compared to that in Cebu, which registered as high as 300 new cases and 12 mortalities daily.
Feliciano believes the Covid-19 cases will decrease and will soon stabilize in three weeks to one month with proper interventions in place.
The availability of real-time data was among the concerns Feliciano raised during the meeting with the local IATF upon learning that the results coming in are at times more than a week up to 10 days before the results were received, which delayed corresponding interventions.
“The real-time and factual data should be received in 14 hours only,” he said. (PNA)
