MANILA, Philippines — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III on Saturday called some institutions as “unprofessional” for failing to coordinate with the Department of Health on information about their involvement in treating COVID-19 patients.
“They request us not to disclose their involvement, then we will say we respect them. Then they will disclose it. This is really very unprofessional on the part of these institutions,” he said, speaking partly in Filipino.
Duque pointed out that Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan appealed to DOH that it should not mention that the fifth coronavirus disease case was treated in their hospital.
But minutes after the DOH press conference on Friday, the hospital management announced that it took care of the patient, who was later transferred to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa.
Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said stigma and fear of the public could be avoided if there would be direct communication and understanding between authorities and health officials.
/atm