IATF to discuss gov’t social amelioration program

MANILA – The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ (IATF-EID) technical working group is set to discuss a government program that would address the needs of displaced workers due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) outbreak in the country.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the IATF-EID technical working group, chaired by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), is tasked to ensure the effective implementation of the social amelioration program.

Other members of the group are the Office of the President and the departments of budget, finance, and labor, Nograles said.

“A separate IATF technical working group is hereby directed to meet for the purpose of operationalizing the social amelioration program of government,” he said.

This came after President Rodrigo Duterte placed Luzon under “enhanced” community quarantine until April 12 to stop the further spread of Covid-19 in the country.

More than 5.3 million people in Luzon can only leave their homes to access basic necessities.

Most work is suspended, except in the case of individuals who are rendering health and essential services.

Emergency employment

Nograles said the IATF

RESIDENTS get into a truck for a free ride home in Manila as the government imposed measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, including suspending all public transport in Luzon. President Rodrigo Duterte ordered about half the country’s population to stay home for the next month in a drastic bid on March 16 to curb the rising number of new coronavirus cases. AFP PHOTO