The Department of Education (DepEd) said a “novel coronavirus task force” will be created to protect learners, teachers and its personnel against the deadly virus, also known as 2019-nCoV.
“It (task force) will have a policy component chaired by the Secretary, with the undersecretaries for field operations, administration, and legal as members,” DepEd Undersecretary and Chief of Staff Nepomuceno Malaluan said in a statement on Saturday.
He said the task force’s operational component, on the other hand, will be led by the School Health Division under the Bureau of Learner Support Services, working in partnership with Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Service and the Public Affairs Service.
Malaluan added the first assignment of the task force is the preparation of an expanded advisory to all DepEd units.
“This will standardize guidelines and protocols on prevention, monitoring and response. We will use only official sources, primarily the Department of Health (DOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Once prepared, we will submit this to DOH for their concurrence, before issuance,” he said.
To avoid contributing to confusion, panic or false information, Malaluan said the DepEd excercises “due care in its public pronouncements” with the guidance of the DOH.
The WHO declared the outbreak of the nCoV as a global emergency as the number of confirmed cases hit at least 12,000 with 259 deaths in China as of Saturday.
Last Thursday (January 30), the DOH confirmed a 30-year-old Chinese woman as the first nCoV case in the Philippines. (PNA)
