Palace denies alleged gov’t order to stop counting COVID-19 deaths

MANILA, Philippines — The Palace denied Sunday allegations that the government has ordered a stop in the counting of the number of deaths related to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Department of Health (DOH) has also debunked the allegations and has ordered an investigation on the matter.

“An allegation from a media broadcaster that the government, through the Department of Health, has ordered a certain hospital in Metro Manila to stop counting the number of deaths caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has, like any false news, spread,” Panelo said in a statement.

“The policy of the President as pronounced by him in his television message to the nation is to be transparent to the Filipino people on any aspect of governance, particularly as in the present crisis, in relation to COVID-19,” he added.

Panelo said that such allegation is “absolutely bereft of logic as well as of common sense.”

“What would the government get from concealing the actual number of deaths due to COVID-19? The government is precisely interested in knowing the number of deaths so that we will know the status of our fight against the coronavirus and we can undertake measures to improve our health system. Obviously, it’s false news,” Panelo noted.

Panelo then reminded the public, including media practitioners, to be responsible for the handling of information.

“It is more helpful to validate the same with the government offices concerned instead of publishing it which may be accepted by gullible netizens as true,” Panelo said.

As of Sunday, DOH said there are 4,648 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, including 297 deaths and 197 recoveries.