DOH-7: We’re addressing ‘delay’ in real-time updates from national level

DOH – 7 is reminding the public to be cautious when it comes to sharing unverified COVID-19 information on social media so as not to cause undue panic. |CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH – 7) is now working to include the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) count from the region in the real-time updates of the national government.

In a statement sent to the media on Saturday, April 25, Dr. Jaime Bernadas, DOH – 7, confirmed reports that COVID-19 updates from DOH’s central office did not include real-time figures from Central Visayas.

“We would like to assure the general public that regional numbers are recorded in the national figures but not in real-time.,” said Bernadas.

As a result, Bernadas said they were now finding ways for the national government to release COVID-19 figures that would carry those from Central Visayas.

“We are now establishing a system to improve and shorten the delay from the release of our regional figures and the reflection of such figures in the national numbers,” he added.

Based on the statement by DOH – 7, numbers from the regional transmitted to DOH’s central office undergo a vetting process involving several levels of review.

“The national data is updated by the Regional Epidemiological and Surveillance Unit (RESU) after each new case has been validated and checked. Each name is encoded with pertinent details. This process admittedly is tedious but is necessary to ensure errors and multiple entries are avoided,” Bernadas said.

As of April 25, Central Visayas has a total of 459 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Around 91 percent of these figures are reported in Cebu as a province, including those logged in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu.

209 out of the 459 are recorded in Cebu City Jail, a congested penal facility that houses over 6,600 inmates. It has been on lockdown since March./dbs