MANILA, Philippines — “Please don’t fudge the figures, fool yourselves and us too,” Sorsogon Gov. Francis “Chiz” Escudero said on Saturday as he criticized the Department of Health (DOH) on its reporting of COVID-19 cases.
DOH previously said it would start to separate data of fresh COVID-19 infections from its backlog or “late cases” so that there would be no impression that there was an increase in cases.
But Escudero tagged the new scheme an an “ego-saving” move and urged that the DOH to instead find a solution to the increase in cases.
“‘Fresh/late’ COVID-19+ cases per the new DOH reporting scheme are mere ‘ego saving devices.’ THE FIRST STEP IN FINDING A SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM IS ADMITTING (to begin with) THAT WE HAVE A PROBLEM,” Escudero wrote on his Facebook post.
As of Saturday, the Philippines had posted 17,224 cases of COVID-19, of which, 252 are fresh cases while 338 are late cases. This includes 950 deaths and 3,808 recoveries.
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