26/12/2020
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte convenes several Cabinet members, infectious diseases experts and members of the academe to tackle various concerns on the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) anew, particularly the recently discovered coronavirus strain, in a meeting at the Heroes Hall in Malacañan Palace on December 26, 2020.
Following recent reports on the newly discovered coronavirus variant, the B.1.1.7, believed to be a more infectious strain of the SARS-CoV-2 spreading in the United Kingdom, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved Resolution No. 90 on December 22 temporarily suspending all inbound flights from the United Kingdom from 24-31 December 2020, and implementing a stricter 14-day quarantine period and testing protocols for passengers who arrived before the said temporary flight ban.
Present in the meeting are Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘B**g’ Go (Chairman, Senate Committee on Health and Demography), Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, National Task Force against Coronavirus Disease 2019 (NTF COVID-19) Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr., Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles, Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque, Jr., Bureau of Immigration (BI) Deputy Commissioner Aldwin Alegre, Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) Undersecretary Marah Victoria Querol and OES Assistant Secretary Kim Raissa Uy.
Also in attendance are Dr. Rolando Enrique Domingo (Director General, DOH-Food and Drug Administration [FDA]), Dr. Celia Carlos (Director, DOH-Research Institute for Tropical Medicine [RITM]), Dr. Jaime Montoya (Executive Director, Department of Science and Technology [DOST]-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development), Dr. Cynthia Palmes-Saloma (Executive Director, University of the Philippines [UP]-Philippine Genome Center [PGC]), Dr. Marc Edsel Ayes (Laboratory Manager, UP-PGC), Dr. Nina Gloriani (Head, Vaccine Development Expert Panel and Professor, UP College of Public Health), Dr. Teodoro Herbosa (Special Adviser, NTF COVID-19), Dr. Mario Panaligan (Immediate Past President, PSMID and Vice President, Philippine College of Physicians), Dr. Marissa Alejandria (Member, Technical Advisory Group for COVID-19 [TAG]), Dr. Anna Lisa Ong-Lim (Member, TAG), Dr. Edsel Maurice Salvana (Member, TAG), Dr. Camilo Roa, Jr. (Pulmonary Medicine, Manila Doctors Hospital), Dr. Rontgene Solante (Chairman, Adult Infectious Disease Tropical Medicine, San Lazaro Hospital), Dr. Socorro Zarate-Escalante (Coordinator, World Health Organization [WHO]), Dr. Althea de Guzman (Medical Specialist, DOH-Epidemiology Bureau) and Dr. Troy Gepte (Office of Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘B**g’ Go).