Health Secretary Francisco Duque III. INQUIRER.net file photo / Ryan Leagogo
MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Tuesday that the public should trust the Department of Health’s (DOH) advisory on updates for suspected novel coronavirus in the Philippines after rumors about the virus started circulating online.
“Sa’min na kayo makinig sa DOH. Kapag inyong mapakinggan sa labas ng DOH, walang malinaw na basihan. Bagkus, ito ay magdudulot ng pangamba magdudulot ng kaguluhan, hindi ito magdudulot ng maganda sa lipunan,” Duque said when asked about verifying fake reports on social media regarding the 2019-nCoV.
(Listen to us in the DOH. If you heard some reports outside of DOH, these have unverified sources. Because this unverified information could cause fear and confusion. It wouldn’t do any good to the society.)
“This will not stabilize a situation that already is really quite challenging at the moment. I reiterate, everything that comes from DOH will be relayed to you and will be factual,” Duque said in mixed Filipino and English.
Duque also cautioned the public on unverified videos surfacing online about reported novel coronavirus in the country.
“We have to be discriminating, we should at least verify or ask questions,” Duque said.
“For example, you see this video of these people collapsing crawling purportedly because of the 2019-nCoV. When was it filmed? Did you check the date of its publication?” the Health chief added.
The Muntinlupa government has denied that there was a confirmed case of the 2019-nCoV in the city.
PBCom Tower, a commercial bank which is based in Makati City, has also belied claims that there is a verified case of the virus in their establishment.
“There is no truth to the information circulating on Social Media that there are confirmed cases of corona virus in PBCOM Tower. PBCOM Tower is on normal operation and not locked down,” the management said in a statement sent to INQUIRER.net via Facebook messenger.
Earlier, the DOH stressed that there are no confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the Philippines but there are more than 20 persons under investigation for the virus.