Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino is pushing for the institutionalization of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in various localities in the Visayas to equip them with strategies in the fight against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Dino said the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) partners with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) in extending technical assistance to the local government units (LGU) in the Visayas.

“We are encouraging them to implement this concept, which has worked well in managing the health crisis in Cebu City,” Dino said in a statement on Wednesday.

The adoption of the EOC, he said, will help LGUs better align their efforts in addressing the possible surge of Covid-19 cases.

He said that OPAV aims to bring “good practices of having a centralized Covid-19 management system” and in capacitating LGUs in their response efforts”.

Dino requested IATF-Visayas Chief Implementer Melquiades Feliciano to share the EOC concept with the LGUs in Western Visayas.

Feliciano was the one who established the EOC in Cebu City, and also wants it to be replicated in other LGUs in Cebu province.

Last Friday, OPAV culminated the two-day “Train The Trainer” (T3) program in Bacolod City. The training aims to educate local officials on the EOC concept.

Assistant Secretary Jonji Gonzales said OPAV is cascading the concept of EOC to where it is most needed.

“The EOC in Cebu was created to strengthen our management of the Covid response. So, we are bringing this EOC concept to other provinces in Visayas,” he said.

Gonzales said T3 participants are at the forefront of implementing the EOC in their localities.

The ultimate goal of the T3 program is to establish EOCs in all provinces in Panay and Western Visayas as a contingency plan to better manage the Covid-19 crisis in these areas, he said.

Gonzales said the proven success of the EOC in Cebu City should help other LGUs in the region adopt a better Covid-19 management system. (PNA)