‘We are being fooled:’ 2 senators score DOH over ‘mass recovery’ tally

Senators Joel Villanueva (L) and Risa Hontiveros. Photos from Villanueva’s Facebook page and INQUIRER file

MANILA, Philippines — “We are being fooled,” Senator Joel Villanueva said Thursday after the Department of Health (DOH) reported a drastic surge of additional recovered COVID-19 patients.

Aside from the highest single-day increase of COVID-19 cases in the country with 3,954 new infections, the DOH also reported 38,075 additional recoveries.

The DOH explained that 37,166 of the 38,075 recoveries reported on Thursday included “cases with mild disease or asymptomatic whose date of onset of illness or specimen collection was more than 14 days ago.”

But Villanueva believes the drastic increase in the number of reported recoveries “shows there’s a problem with data interpretation.”

“Wow 38k recoveries in 1 day only shows there’s a problem with data interpretation. Worse, it’s giving people a false sense of security. Imbes na mass testing, naging mass recovery,” he wrote on Twitter.

Wow 38k recoveries in 1 day only shows there's a problem with data interpretation. Worse, it's giving people a false sense of security. Imbes na mass testing, naging mass recovery. 🤦‍♂️ #DOHunreliable #WeAreBeingFooled

— Joel Villanueva (@senatorjoelv) July 30, 2020

“Yung reporting style ng DOH, mas malala pa sa pagbago-bago ng panahon #DOHunreliable #WeAreBeingFooled,“ he added.

Yung reporting style ng DOH, mas malala pa sa pagbago-bago ng panahon #DOHunreliable #WeAreBeingFooled

— Joel Villanueva (@senatorjoelv) July 30, 2020

Senator Risa Hontiveros also scored the DOH for the way it has repeatedly changed its way of reporting cases.

“People are anxious & tired. Huwag na dagdagan. Nakakalito at nakakaduda ang papalit-palit na reporting system sa COVID. Pati ang kabagalan ng pag-collate at pagreport, ngayon pati sa recovered cases,” she said in a separate tweet.

(Different reporting system on COVID is confusing and doubtful. Even the slow collating and reporting, now in recovered cases.)

Kailangan magpaliwanag ang @DOHgovph kung ano ang nangyayari every step of the way.

They need to fix communication w/ the public and first & foremost amongst themselves.

Data is vital. Hindi tayo makakatugon nang maayos kung hindi natin alam ang kumpletong larawan ng problema.

— risa hontiveros (@risahontiveros) July 30, 2020

“Clear communication is what will earn the people’s trust,” she added.

The DOH should fix its communication with the public  “and first & foremost amongst themselves,” according the lady senator.

“Data is vital. Hindi tayo makakatugon nang maayos kung hindi natin alam ang kumpletong larawan ng problema,” she said.

(We can’t act accordingly if we don’t know the problem’s complete picture.)

The number of coronavirus cases in the country continues to rise on a daily basis.

Health authorities attributed this surge to the country’s improved testing capacity and intensified contact-tracing among the population while the government relaxes quarantine measures and allows the reopening of businesses in a bid to revitalize the pandemic-battered economy.

JPV