CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Cebu City Council’s Task Force Coronavirus met with the officials of the Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday, January 30, 2020, to discuss preventive measures on dealing with the spread of the 2019-nCoV or Wuhan Coronavirus.
Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama, the chairperson of the council’s committee on health, said the task force aims to create a standard protocol in dealing with possible epidemics, such as the threat of the Wuhan Coronavirus.
“We will have information, education, and communication. This will be expanded and later submitted to the mayor. He will then create an executive order so that it will now become a template not only on coronavirus,” said Rama.
Rama said the city should be prepared to handle cases of viral spread of diseases such as the coronavirus and any type of virus that can possibly affect a huge part of the population.
One of the primary concerns of the task group is the preparedness of the city’s hospitals to handle a positive case.
Should there be a positive case, Rama said all concerned agencies, including the DOH, the Cebu City Health, the hospital administrations, and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), should immediately set up isolation measures.
The barangays should also be prepared through information dissemination on how to prevent the spread of the virus.
He also urged the public and the media to report only verified information so as not to cause unnecessary panic.
“Sugod lang ni atong gibuhat to help the executive department in addressing this problem. (This meeting is only the start to help the executive department in addressing this problem),” said the vice mayor. /bmjo