COVID-19 data release to be delayed due to changes — DOH

MANILA, Philippines – The release of the updates on COVID-19 cases for Friday would be delayed due to the changes in the way of reporting it, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that they would release the numbers by Friday night — around 8:00 p.m. – instead of the routine afternoon update.

This was prompted by their decision to segregate “fresh cases” or coronavirus infections recorded three days ago, and case backlogs which supposedly created an impression contradicting the government’s claim of flattening the curve.

“Gusto lang po naming ipaalam na ang ating daily case bulletin ay bahagyang maantala dahil we are still finalizing the new format of our new case bulletin.  Kami po ay maglalabas ng aming case bulletin ngayong alas otso po ng gabi,” Vergeire said in DOH’s daily briefing.

(We just want to inform you that our daily case bulletin would be delayed because we are still finalizing the new format of our new case bulletin.  We would be releasing the case bulletin by 8:00 p.m.)

Prior to her announcement, Vergeire said that DOH has decided to differentiate the fresh cases from the backlog after the single-highest coronavirus infections in a day were reported on Tuesday, at 539.

According to her, only 109 of the record-high 539 COVID-19 cases recorded last Thursday were fresh cases, while the rest of the patients were part of the case backlog.  However, government critics took notice of the high cases in contrast to the decision to ease quarantine restrictions all over the country, including Metro Manila.

She admitted though that the high number of cases might have stoked fears that the country was U-turning to an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) scenario — just as the government decided to relax its regulations.

As of Thursday, health authorities said there are now 15,588 COVID-19 patients in the Philippines, 921 of which have died while 3,598 have recovered.

Worldwide, there are now 5.705 million cases, with 355,934 people dead and 2.360 million patients-recoveries.