IATF and NTF COVID-19 activated the crisis action plan against COVID-19 variants.
IATF and NTF COVID-19 — A new crisis action plan was launched by the national government’s task forces that were overseeing the Philippines’ COVID-19 pandemic response to address the new threats posed by the emerging COVID-19 variants.
On Friday, vaccine czar and NTF chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr said that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging and Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) and the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF COVID-19) activated the new crisis action plan in order to ensure the “more effective containment and mitigation” of COVID-19 strains such as the Delta COVID-19 variant.
According to Galvez, the crisis action plan was aligned with the National Action Plan (NAP) Phase IV which focused on the enhanced implementation of the Prevention, Detection, Isolation, Treatment, and Reintegration plus Vaccinate (PDITR+V) strategy.
The NAP was the overall strategy of the national government in order to contain COVID-19 and it has four phases: Phase I which was implemented from March 2020 to June 2020; Phase II from July 2020 to September 2020; Phase III from October 2020 to June 2021; and Phase IV from July 2021 to December 2021.
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Meanwhile, PDITR refers to prevent, to detect, to isolate, to treat, and to reintegrate the strategy of the national government in order to contain COVID-19 which was formulated during the implementation of NAP Phase II. It was still being imposed but with an added layer of response which was the mass vaccination, hence, PDITR+V.
Further, Galvez said that the crisis action plan also entailed the enforcement of the “Four Door Strategy” in order to ensure heightened surveillance, strict border control, quick response, and “focus and expand” mass vaccination strategies.
The said strategy referred to four layers or “doors” of protection in order to prevent the entry and spread of COVID-19 variants that originated from other countries.
“Our Crisis Action Plan’s mission shall be the implementation of contingency operations in preparation for and response to an exponential increase in COVID-19 cases due to the emergence of new variants at the national level. These contingency operations are implemented to defer, and respond to the threat posed by new COVID-19 variants of concern,” Galvez said.
Manila Bulletin reported that the contingency measures were being conducted amidst the Delta-driven surge of coronavirus infections which forced the national government to implement enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila, Laguna, Iloilo City, and Cagayan de Oro.
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