THE coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic was a disaster waiting to happen. We’ve had our encounters with the different strains of the unwelcome virus that threatened global public health. For brevity, let’s just call it the Pandemic Response Plan. So, some government agencies had been conducting meetings and planning sessions as recently as 2018 to adequately address public health emergencies. If the Pandemic Response Plan had been implemented, responses corresponding to each pandemic trigger should have been automatic, without need of specific action from the President.

Source: Manila Times April 14, 2020 16:30 UTC