The Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) has sent representatives to Negros Oriental to standardize the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) implementation in the fight against Covid-19.
Marlou Salazar, chairman of the Central Visayas IATF and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) director, told PressOne.PH the regional task force had sent a four-member team to the province to institutionalize EOC use against the pandemic.
Salazar said Dumaguete and the provincial capital already have EOCs, but they needed “strengthening and indoctrination,” especially in Dumaguete City where Covid-19 infections continued to increase.
Salazar said EOCs should collect data from the field for proper data analytics needed for policy making.
“In managing an EOC, you are also managing consequences, information, and resources,” he said.
Dumaguete City’s chief security consultant, retired general Rey Lyndon Lawas, who Mayor Felipe Remollo had designated to lead the EOC, said the city’s operations center would be improved with OCD’s help.
Early this month, Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion said the province’s EOC had been in existence since February 2020, managing Covid-19 response 24/7.
The Department of Health Central Visayas spokesperson, Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, has repeatedly recommended an EOC similar to those in Cebu City and Bacolod to be adopted and organized in Negros Oriental. Ryan Sorote