DOH to Gadon: Let us not try to mislead people

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) again made an appeal to lawyer Lorenzo “Larry” Gadon not to “mislead” the public with his remarks against the agency’s COVID-19 policies.

In an online press forum on Friday, Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said spreading such false information against COVID-19 may undermine efforts of the government to contain the spread of the the disease.

“Let us not try to mislead people with these remarks kasi po baka po lalo pang kumalat ang impeksyon. Naaapektuhan na po ang sambayanang Pilipino,” Vergeire said.

While the DOH respects the opinion of everybody, Vergeire said that the policies of the DOH regarding COVID-19 has always been “based on science and evidence,” such as wearing of face masks, which has been recommended by the World Health Organization as being effective in reducing the spread of coronavirus.

“You can hear the international experts and even the WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the basis and studies and evidence regarding the use of masks. That’s why we are recommending them so that we can protect people and we can prevent further infection,” she added.

Nevertheless, Vergeire said the DOH will continue to advocate for the use of face masks.

“We respect the opinion of everybody, we have been receiving all these types of comments for the past weeks, for the past months na tayo ay lumalaban dito sa COVID-19 na ito,” she said. “Kami we hear these kinds of things, we continue with our work. Itutuloy namin. Nirerespeto namin ang opinyon nila, nirerespeto ang opinyon ng bawat isa.”

Earlier, Gadon accused the DOH of supposedly overreacting to the COVID-19 paranoia, and that the disease was “curable.”

“Para sa akin, kalabisan na sa akin eh, either naka-face shield ka o naka-face mask ka, hindi ako naniniwala sa DOH,” he earlier said.

(For me, it’s too much already. Either wear a face mask or wear a face shield, that’s why I don’t believe the DOH.)

Gadon also previously became a trending topic on social media as he was spotted not properly wearing his face mask in public, with his surgical mask taped inside his face shield.

He said that he does not believe in wearing face masks can prevent the spread of COVID-19.

He made his statement amid the rising number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, which on Thursday already reached 205,5811 with the DOH logging 3,249 new infections.

Based on the latest case bulletin from DOH, there are now 68,357 are active COVID-19 cases. Some 133,990 patients have recovered, while more than 3,000 have died.

EDV