Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 21) — The Department of Health (DOH) said the meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19 (IATF) to discuss the decoupling of the alert level has been moved to April.
“Hindi kami makahanap ng quorum dahil sobrang busy ng ating mga officials. Hindi naman po pwedeng ang a-attend sa IATF ay lower than (undersecretary) or (assistant secretary) dahil may mga official representations tayo doon,” DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Tuesday.
[Translation: We are unable to find the quorum as officials are very busy. Those who will attend should not have a designation lower than undersecretary or assistant secretary, as there should be official representation.]
The IATF meeting was initially set for Feb. 1, Vergeire said in a briefing last January.
In November last year, the DOH said it would recommend the decoupling restrictions from alert levels to make them similar to how the state weather bureau uses storm signals.
Vergeire said the goal was to redirect the objective of the COVID-19 alert level system, and not to revise its indicators.
The country’s top health official gave her assurance that the DOH would continue to give guidance to the public on how to guard against COVID-19.
“Rest assured, kahit hindi pa natin naipapatupad ito, ating pinag-iigting pa rin naman ang pagpaalala sa ating mga kababayan na hindi natin kailangang matakot at hindi natin malimita ng ating activities dahil meron pa ring virus. Ang kailangan lang dapat aware tayo, mapagmatyag,” said Vegeire.
[Translation: Rest assured that even if this has not yet been enforced, we are still reminding people they should not be afraid or limit their activities because of the virus. All we need is to be aware and vigilant.]
