Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez called on city residents to continue practicing discipline to help the city government in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), especially after the city was commended as “model city” for its response to the pandemic.
Olivarez said that the city was commended by Secretary Carlito Galvez, COVID-19 chief implementer, as a “model city” for its best practices in fighting the spread of COVID-19.
The National Task Force COVID-19 chief made the statement in a meeting held on Thursday (Aug. 6) after he introduced the round-the-clock One Hospital Command Center, a solution that will lead to a more resilient and responsive healthcare system in Metro Manila amid the pandemic.
Aside from Galvez, the meeting was also attended by Department of Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega, Department of the Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Ricojudge Echeverri, and DOH research division chief Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho, among other officials and guests.
Galvez said Parañaque can be considered a model city for its unity of effort and systematic workflow. "When you are united, you will win the war."
The city government has been conducting aggressive testing and tracing amid the continuing increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.
“The strategies are really working and they are already implementing it at the barangay level. They know where to address the problem,” Galvez added.
Dr. Ho said, "We will get some of the best practices to share it with the other LGUs."
According to Dr. Olga Virtusio, Parañaque health officer, the key to the successful fight against COVID-19 is the support of all local officials, active barangays, and health workers, as well as having proper isolation facilities.
The latest city records showed there are 2,896 COVID-19 confirmed cases, 724 of them active; and 2,084 or 72 percent recoveries, the highest among the cities in Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, Galvez said the One Hospital Command Center is expected to establish links among healthcare stakeholders and provide real-time situational awareness on hospital capacity and availability of medical personnel especially during this time of public health emergency.
“ launching of One Hospital Command Center is timely and the system will help government to efficiently oversee coordination, referral of patients across health facilities, and ensure to have enough hospital beds for moderate and severe COVID-19 cases,” he said.
Galvez added that part of the national task force fund would be allocated for the operations of the command center.