Smart, Lanao del Sur setting up COVID-19 information platform
BANGSAMORO NEWS UPDATES • 11:15 AM Tue Apr 28, 2020
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By:
John M. Unson
The infocast messaging system shall commence this week. (File photo)
MARAWI CITY --- The Smart Communications and the provincial government of Lanao del Sur are setting up a COVID-19 public telecommunications information platform in Lanao del Sur province.
The United States Agency for International Development, which is helping the Lanao del Sur provincial government in its war on coronavirus, is supporting the “infocast” communication project.
Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr. said Tuesday the infocast project shall start disseminating within the week vital COVID-19 updates via phone messaging.
Adiong said Tuesday the “infocast” public messaging system will keep residents of Lanao del Sur abreast on the real COVID-19 situation in the province and in other regions in the country.
Lanao del Sur has 39 towns and covers more than 90 barangays in its capital, Marawi City.
In a statement, the Smart Communications said the infocast network shall provide the local communities with secure, verified updates on COVID-19 issues.
“This is a big boost to the efforts of the provincial government to keep our people abreast on the real COVID-19 situation not only in the province but throughout the country,” Adiong said.
Experts from USAID and the World Health Organization earlier lectured Maranaw health workers from across Lanao del Sur on proper collection of testing specimen from patients suspected of having been afflicted with coronavirus disease.
Physician Allen Minalang, chief of the Lanao del Sur Integrated Provincial Health Office, said the infocast project is the best “antidote” to fake COVID-19 reports that occasionally spreads through social media.
This is a surefire means of letting people know the real situation with regards to the COVID-19 problem and the gains of the government’s war versus COVID-19,” Minalang said.