ILOILO CITY, Feb. 12 (PIA) - Assistant Secretary Gerard "Jonji" Gozales echoed at a press conference held here, February 12, the assurance of President Rodrigo Duterte that the government is ready against the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

"President Duterte has told us several times that the government is ready, has the money and resources to contain the virus," said Gonzales, who is the Special Concerns Officer for Western Visayas of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has renamed the 2019 Novel Coronaviruss (nCoV) to COVID-19.

The OPAV official remarked that he is happy to know from concerned government agencies whom he met that they are well prepared and doing their best to handle the situation in Western Visayas.

In fact, according to a report of the Department of Health Region 6, the number of Patients Under Investigation (previously persons under investigation) as well as that of admissions, is decreasing.

DOH-6 Regional Director Marlyn Convocar, who also joined the press conference and one of those met by Gonzales earlier, said that as of Tuesday, 21 of 29 PUIs in the region have already been discharged from hospital and 26 of the total number already tested negative, the remaining three with pending results of the report.

Along with Convocar, Gozales also met with the regional officials of the Bureau of Quarantine, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

He was pleased to know from the report of DILG-6 Regional Director Ariel Iglesia about the proactive actions made by the local government units in the region on the COVID-19 threat. He also cited the important role of Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams (BHERTS).

In order to avoid fake news on the disease from spreading, the government has tapped the program called Laging Handa wherein information has only one official source, that is the Presidential Communications Operations Office, in order to avoid public confusion on the issue, he said.

Under Laging Handa, information from frontline agencies concerned with COID-19 is disseminated through government broadcast media outfits and complemented by other attached bureaus of the agency. (JSC/PIA6)