What are the pains (or challenges) in our pandemic response?

Covid-19 pandemic reinforces the critical role local government play as frontline responders in
crisis response, recovery, and rebuilding, not only to address imminent risks and needs but also
to try to mitigate the future effects of this crisis, which will impact many sectors
interchangeably.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, municipalities encountered numerous challenges,

including nationwide stay-at-home orders, social distancing guidelines, and uncertain economic
conditions. The most common municipal response to the pandemic was a declaration of a state
of emergency.

Institutional overlaps are also one of the challenges. There needs to be a clear division of
functions between national and local governments, between different social sectors as well as
various arms of local governments. Covid-19 pandemic show that national government should
device overarching crises-response strategies with local governments aligning their plans to it.
This is crucial so that essential services such as food chain, social protection and routine health
services are minimally disrupted during a crisis.