In March 2020, in the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Iván Duque Márquez appointed Mr. Plata as Covid – 19 Manager. Despite the critical and challenging situation Colombia and the world were experiencing, Mr. Plata doubled the UCIs capacity in record time, created the National Strategic Reserve of Personal Health Protection Elements and designed the Testing, Tracking and Isolating Strategy (PRASS in Spanish), which skyrocketed the country's testing capacity, and smoothed the infected persons identification and quarantine.
