Lorenzana in Caloocan: We aim to flatten COVID-19 curve this September

CODE Team visits Caloocan City with Mayor Oca Malapitan. (DA photo)

CALOOCAN CITY, Sept. 6 (PIA) -- The government aims to flatten the COVID-19 curve this September, said Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana over the weekend when he visited Caloocan City.

Lorenzana, who also chairs the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF COVID-19) visited the northen metro city on Saturday together with the Coordinated Operations to Defeate Epidemic (CODE) Team.

“Ang ating layunin sa buwan na ito ay mag-flatten tayo o hindi kaya mas maganda kung maibaba natin iyong ‘curve’ para siguro pagkatapos ng buwan ng Setyembre ay makapunta na tayo sa MGCQ at medyo maluwagluwag ang buhay ng mga tao [Our goal this month is to flatten the curve, or it is even better if we can decrease the curve so that we can go to MGCQ after September where people’s lives are a little bit better],” he said.

The official said it is even better if there will be a decrease in the number of new infections in the country.

The key to this, Lorenzana emphasized, lies with the local government units especially at the barangay level. The LGUs can work closely with the national government, who can provide the resources needed to implement the prescribed quarantine and bio-safety protocols.

“Ang mga fronliners natin ay ang ating mga barangay officials na nagpapatupad ng quarantine protocols, pagsusuot ng face masks, social distancing, sanitation, at iyong mga dapat nating gawin [The frontliners are our barangay officials who implement quarantine protocols, wearing of face masks, social distancing, sanitation, and other things that we need to do],” he said.

The visiting CODE Team was composed of representatives from NTF-member agencies led by Lorenzana, Department of Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar, and Department of Heakth Undersecretary Gerardo V. Bayugo.

Caloocan City, for its part, was led by its local chief executive, Mayor Oscar Malapitan.

Lorenzana also participated in the ceremonial turn-over of “Mask para sa Masa” for families in the locality, and distribution of PPEs and hygiene kits.

“Mask Para sa Masa” is a face mask distribution project of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte which aims to provide 30 million domestically-manufactured washable face masks to poor families in COVID-19 high-risk areas. (PIA NCR)

Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)