MANILA, Philippines — The East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC) on Saturday said it did not receive an order from the Department of Health (DOH) or the local government of Quezon City to halt the reporting of COVID-19 deaths.
“The East Avenue Medical Center… has received no directive, order or statement from the Department of Health Office of the Secretary or Quezon City Local Government to stop or hold the census and reporting of deaths related to COVID-19,” read the statement from Dr. Alfonso Nuñez, office-in-charge of EAMC.
The hospital management added that it is still reporting number of fatalities due to coronavirus disease to the DOH Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has already denied that they issued an order to stop recording number of deaths, saying they will immediately probe the allegation which was revealed by broadcast journalist Arnold Clavio.
Clavio bared in his Instagram post, which was already deleted, that a hospital in Metro Manila was directed to conceal its number of patients who died due to COVID-19.
As of Black Saturday, the Philippine health department documented 4,428 confirmed cases of coronavirus disease including 157 recoveries and 247 deaths.