The Department of Health will first clear backlogs on their COVID-19 testing before going back to its old system of reporting cases, its spokesperson said.
“In the next few weeks, if we will see that the late cases already we were able to exhaust at fresh cases na lang, babalik na tayo sa dati nating pagre-report ng data (we will go back to our old way of reporting data),” Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said.
It was in late May when DOH changed its way of presenting daily coronavirus data by distinguishing “fresh” cases, or those whose test results were released within the last three days, from “late” cases, or those whose results were released after more than four days.
DOH claim this was to provide transparency in the timelines of data gathered.
This change in reporting brought up questions of accuracy in validity from several lawmakers and netizens..
Dr. Tony Leachon, who earlier resigned from his post as a special adviser to the COVID-19 National Task Force, was among those who voiced out concerns on the DOH’s new system of reporting, calling officials’ move a “mediocre” performance.
He urged Filipinos not to tolerate the present response measures, noting how citizens should “demand for accountability” amid the global health crisis.
“We’re still struggling with the data. We’re the only country in the world reporting fresh and late… In crisis, sometimes, we should not tolerate mediocrity,” Leachon said in a separate interview with CNN Philippines.
The Health Department has meanwhile been subjected to a probe by the Office of the Ombudsman, which wanted to look into the alleged “irregularities and anomalies” in its COVID-19 response measures.
DOH had said it will cooperate with all directives concerning the investigation.
To date, COVID-19 cases in the Philippines have surpassed 27,000.
