Tarlac City, Tarlac - In order to keep track of the City's efforts against COVID 19, Office of the Civil Defense Regional Director Maria Theresa Escolano attended a meeting with the city task force of Tarlac on January 18, 2021.

 Tarlac City Mayor Cristy Angeles acknowledged the guests for the afternoon's meeting and committed Tarlac City's continued effort to fight COVID 19 in compliance to the policies laid out by the IATF.

Several AVPs were shown to tye participants showcasing the activities that have been undertaken by the City government since the lockdowns began in March.

Director Escolano also expressed her appreciation for the city government's efforts and proudly announced that an evacuation center in Tarlac City worth 34 Million pesos is under way. She mentioned that there are issues and concerns that OCD would like to hear from the LGU.

Mr. Hensel Quilling, Tarlac City CDRRMO presented the LGU's COVID-19 Command Structure that was crafted strategically to ensure the safety and swift response of the city government. The structure is composed of 4 areas: planning, operations, logistics, and finance and administration.

Director Escolano in her presentation, reiterated the need to carefully observe the PDITR strategy to help end the pandemic. The plan is National Government enabled but LGU led which means that local task forces are at the forefront of the implementation of policies.

She also presented the various phases of the National Action Plan which involves the vaccination roadmap which the country will take in the coming months. According to her, LGUs through the local health offices will be tasked to register all frontline workers as priority beneficiaries once the COVID-19 vaccine is already available.

LGOO VI Bryan Rivera reiterated process of initiating localized lockdowns using the guidelines on zoning containment strategy issued by the National Task Force. He stressed that each level or tier of the population may be contained provided the parameters are met. He also informed the body that the LGU will request for concurrence from the RIATF for the proposed lockdown.

The event also paved way for the turnover of personal protective equipment (PPEs) from the OCD to augment the number of PPEs in Tarlac City and help their contact tracing team whenever needed.