The Olongapo City Task Force Against COVID-19 took part in coordination meeting with the Regional Task Force on August 26, 2020 at Sangguniang Panlungsod Session Hall to discuss local response efforts during the pandemic. Office of Civil Defense Regional Director Maria Theresa R. Escolano, RTF Chairperson, spearheaded the said meeting.

 CDRRMO Angelito Layug, DILG City Director Amada Dumagat, City Health Officer Rodrick Bustamante, CSWDO Gonzalo A. Pascua, Jr., City Hospital Administrator Jesse Jewel Manuel and other OC-TAC members and representatives presented the COVID-19 situation in Olongapo, as well as the interventions of the city to curtail and eliminate the threat of the virus.

As part of the responses to curb the increase of COVID-19 cases, the City Government has designated Gordon College as temporary isolation center. Olongapo also engaged in partnership with Columban College to use the school's hotel for isolation purposes.

Moreover, the Local Government ensures prompt contact tracing upon detection of COVID-19 positive patients to prevent further transmission.

RD Escolano discussed the Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate (PDITR) Strategy under the National Action Plan Phase III which is critical in strengthening the national government's pandemic response efforts in balancing the health of the people and the recovery of economy. Afterwards, she emphasized the necessity of the application of Zoning Containment Strategy to prevent the spread of the virus.

Zoning Containment Strategy

Per National Task Force Against COVID-19 Memorandum regarding Operational Guidelines on the Application of the Zoning Containment Strategy in the Localization of the National Action Plan Against COVID-19 Response, ZCS is applied in order to identify focused areas for implementation of varying levels of quarantine, depending on the risk and stage of transmission prevalent in the area. It can also be used to efficiently implement the PDITR Strategy.

Local areas will be classified into four zones based on set parameters. The Critical Zone refers to the areas where the initial number of cases or several clustering of cases have been identified within the past seven days.

The Containment Zone is composed of areas without new cases, however adjacent to Critical Zone. The Buffer Zone refers to the areas without new cases, but adjacent to Containment Zone. While, all remaining areas without new cases not categorized as Containment Zone or Buffer Zone are classified as Outside Buffer Zone.

"We take this as an opportunity to improve our operations (against COVID-19)," said City Mayor Rolen C. Paulino in his message. "We just want to make better our services for the citizens."