Objectives:

What we need to know about COVID-19 And the Emergency

Response
INTRODUCTION
What is CoronaVirus?
COVID-19 is a disease caused by a new strain of
coronavirus. 'CO' stands for corona, 'VI' for virus, and 'D'
for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as
'2019 novel coronavirus' or '2019-nCoV.'

The world is facing a global crisis contrary to the World War II, one that is
spreading human suffering, infecting the global economy and change
people’s lives. This is a moment that need coordinated, decisive and
ground-breaking action from whole parts of the society.

We all have been affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the impact of the pandemic and its consequences are felt
differently depending on our status as individuals and as members of
society. While some try to adapt to working online, homeschooling
their children and ordering food via Instacart, others have no choice
but to be exposed to the virus while keeping society functioning. Our
different social identities and the social groups we belong to determine
our inclusion within society and, by extension, our vulnerability to
epidemics.
Discussion
Emergency Response

Both the national government and local governments have responded

to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines with various declarations
of emergency, closure of schools and public meeting places, lockdowns,
and other restrictions intended to slow the spread of the virus.

The Philippine government mounted a multi-sectoral response to the

COVID-19, through the Interagency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging
Infectious Diseases chaired by the Department of Health (DOH). Through
the National Action Plan (NAP) on COVID-19, the government aims to
contain the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate its socioeconomic impacts.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has
been working with Ministries of Health
worldwide to prepare and respond to
COVID-19. In the Philippines, WHO country
office in the Philippines and its partners have
been working with the Department of Health
and subnational authorities to respond to the
pandemic. The country level response is
done with support from the WHO regional
office and headquarters.

The World Health Organization (WHO)

Philippines supports the Department of
Health (DOH) and subnational areas in the
Philippines with technical expertise to build
up national and local level responses for
expansion of diagnostic capacity, early
contact tracing and management, expansion
of healthcare pathways and strengthening
surveillance systems and risk
communication.
Surveillance
Surveillance is a critical component and is used to detect cases of
COVID-19 as well as to understand the disease dynamics and
trends and identify hotspots of disease transmission. The
Department of Health included COVID-19 in the list of nationally
notifiable diseases early in the outbreak to ensure that information
was being collected to guide appropriate response actions. Existing
surveillance systems were capitalized upon to speed up
identification of cases as well as identify unusual clusters.
Laboratory confirmation is a critical component of the surveillance
system but cannot be the only sources of information. The non-
specific symptoms and the novel nature of the disease means that
the DOH, with support from WHO, are looking at all available
information sources to guide response decision making. WHO also
provided technical assistance to selected local government units to
strengthen field surveillance for timely data for action at the local
level.
Contact tracing
Contact tracing is crucial to the response.
It is a system to detect and isolate cases
and identify close contacts who will be
advised for quarantine. It allows the
investigation the system to tracjk the
chain of infections as well as the settings,
places, events or other avenues that
where transmission have occurred or
may have been amplified. A major
bottleneck to doing this is the availability
of timely and complete information from
the hospitals for suspected, probable and
confirmed COVID-19 cases. WHO
assisted the DOH Epidemiology Bureau
in developing COVID KAYA, a case and
contact tracing reporting system for
epidemiology and surveillance officers,
health care providers and laboratory-
based users, expanding the capacity of
the previous COVID-19 information
system. WHO also continued to support
the government to establish the system
and improve capacity for contact tracing
at the city and municipal levels.
Infection prevention
and control
Patients and health workers must be
protected from the possible transmission of
COVID-19 inside health facilities. Infection
prevention and control (IPC) is vital in
minimizing the harm caused by the spread
of infection in these facilities. In the early
part of the response, WHO supported the
DOH with the provision of personal
protective equipment (PPE) for health
workers. To strengthen IPC, WHO and
DOH developed modules and conducted
online IPC training of trainers for frontline
health workers in health care and
community settings
Laboratory and therapeutics access
Laboratory testing for COVID-19 is critical to be able to rapidly identify, treat and isolate
the positive patients, and be able to see the bigger picture of how many people are
infected and ultimately stop the transmission of the virus. Since the beginning of the
response, WHO provided support to the DOH’s Research Institute for Tropical
Medicine with laboratory supplies and extraction kits. WHO also assisted the DOH in
the accreditation of COVID-19 testing laboratories. To date, 23 real-time reverse
transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) laboratories nationwide are now
conducting COVID-19 diagnostic tests. The Philippines has also recently joined the
WHO Solidarity trial to find effective COVID-19 treatment.

Responding to outbreaks in high

risk areas
Closed settings like prisons and hospitals have seen clusters of confirmed
cases. WHO, the DOH Epidemiology Bureau and the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) worked with prison authorities and
hospitals in joint contact tracing and infection prevention and control
investigations. The teams provided them with guidance to prevent the
further spread of infection to ensure the protection of persons deprived of
liberty, hospital patients and people with mental health conditions.

WHO also supported the strengthening of community-based interventions

and social support and addressing the needs of specific populations such as
people with pre-existing mental and substance use disorders.
 Summary
The Covid-19 pandemic has not only presented to us the numerous
vulnerabilities within our healthcare system, public health emergency
response, governance, and communities. It has most especially taught
us that our health and safety (including the planet’s) depends on
collective action.

References:

https://www.who.int/philippines/news/feature-stories/
detail/who-supports-doh-and-subnational-areas-in-the-
philippines-for-covid-19-response

https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2020/12/23/were-the-
philippines-covid-19-responses-sufficient/
 Narrative Report
Covid-19

Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly. It is a word that, if misused,

can cause excessive fear, or indefensible acceptance that the fight is over, leading
to redundant suffering and death.Justify the situation as a pandemic does not
change WHO’s assessment of the threat posed by this virus. It doesn’t change
what WHO is doing, and it doesn’t change what countries should do.
Both the national government and the local government has been assessing this
outbreak and deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and
severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction
We have never before seen a pandemic sparked by a coronavirus. This is the first
pandemic caused by a coronavirus.
And we have never before seen a pandemic that can be controlled, at the same
time.