Eating at buffets won’t increase COVID-19 risk — DOH

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) has noted that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can be contracted anywhere and that eating at buffets which draws many people should not be singled out.

In a press briefing on Monday, Health Assistant Secretary Dr. Maria Rosario Vergeire said the DOH only gives “general precautions” on how to be safe from the viral infection.

“Ang gusto po namin iparating sa lahat, kung anuman po ang ating mga binibigay na adivisory para sa pag-iwas, these are general precautions, hindi po natin kailangang tukuyin na kapag ikaw ay nagbuffet, ikaw ay makakakuha ng sakit,” she said.

(We want to remind the public that the advisories we provide are only general precautions. We don’t have to single out eating at a buffet as something that can cause you to have a disease.)

“General precautions means kapag maraming tao, syempre gusto nating umiwas (that if there are a lot of people, of course, we should avoid those places),” she added.

But if going to crowded places is inevitable, Vergeire said proper cough etiquette and frequent washing of hands should then be observed.

“Ayoko mag-zero in doon sa sinasabi na kapag nagbuffet ka [makukuha mo ‘yung virus] kasi tanggalin po natin itong impormasyon na ito sa utak natin (I don’t want to zero into what they say that if you eat at buffets, you will get the virus. Let us eliminate this thought in our heads) because we are going to scare people away. Our business will suffer because of this misinformation,” she also said.

Latest data from the DOH case tracker showed there are 521 PUIs monitored by the agency for the deadly virus. Of this number, 453 patients have already tested negative for the infection.

There has been no case of human-to-human transmission in the country, as health officials also noted that there is no evidence yet that the virus is airborne.