DAVAO CITY, August 11 (PIA) - The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) praised the efforts of the local government of Region 11 in their collective efforts and response in controlling the spread of the said infectious disease in the region.

The Chairperson for the IATF-EID Health Secretary Francisco Duque congratulated Region 11 for the efforts undertaken by all provinces to be able to effectively build up essential facilities to be used in controlling the spread of the said disease in the region.

"I would like to congratulate Region 11 for how they have been responding to this pandemic," Duque said.

The recorded positivity rate for Region 11 is at 5% which signifies that there is adequate COVID-19 testing being conducted in the region based on the World Health Organization's (WHO) standards. With this, local health authorities and local government units will be able to properly direct the necessary resources to specific areas where there is a clustering of COVID-19 cases.

The Health Secretary also highlighted how the local governments in the region were able to properly address the issues brought about by the pandemic by providing concrete solutions in the controlling of the spread of COVID-19 in the Davao Region.

"I was looking at the numbers of TTMF - Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities - your bed capacity is numbered at 7,000 and I was looking at the metric of 1 is to 2,500 population and what is required of your region is only a bed capacity of 2,500 but you're doing 3.5 times better than the standard," Duque added.

The local government units of the Davao Region were able to effectively set up 862 Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities (TTMFs) with a total bed capacity of 7,470 with an occupancy rate of 40.12%. These facilities are currently in use to house asymptomatic to mild cases of COVID-19.

Given the current head start of the Davao Region when it comes to preparing for a possible surge in COVID-19 cases, Health Secretary Duque emphasized how this can be a window of opportunity for local governments and Regional Government agencies to effectively contain the spread of the said disease in localities with the most number of documented COVID-19 cases.

"This is the time to crush the [COVID-19] clusters while it is still at a manageable level and be the model that all other regions can look up to ... and I have no doubts that you [Region 11] can do it," Duque added. (PIA XI/KPLCaro)