Doctor laments lack of update on DOH’s COVID-19 tally

December 27, 2023 - 5:57 PM
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Health worker
A health worker wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) as protection against the coronarivus disease (COVID-19) holds an umbrella as she carries medical supplies, at Sta. Ana Hospital, in Manila, Philippines, September 8, 2021. (Reuters/Lisa Marie David)

A physician wondered why the health department has not been updating its daily COVID-19 tracker in the past five days.

“Nalipat ba ang taga bilang ng COVID ng DoH sa pagbilang ng firework injuries? Aba, almost a week na walang update ah!” physician Benjamin Co, an infectious disease and clinical pharmacology expert, posted on X on Wednesday.

He incorporated a zany face emoji in the post.

The physician also shared a screengrab of the Department of Health‘s COVID-19 tracker page and a news update on the fireworks-related injuries tallied by the DOH ahead of New Year’s Eve.

Co’s post was liked by fellow physician Tony Leachon, former special adviser to the National Task Force Against COVID-19.

As of writing, the DOH has not yet updated its COVID-19 tracker.

The figures shown were the numbers as of December 22, the last weekday before the Christmas weekend.

DOH Covid
Screengrab from the website of the Department of Health on Dec. 27, 2023 (Screengrab by Interaksyon from doh.gov.ph)

Earlier this year, the DOH failed to update its COVID-19 tracker for two days.

It concerned some Filipinos since the non-update came after the government’s pandemic task force updated the COVID-19 alert levels of some areas in the country.

RELATED: DOH updates COVID-19 tracker after days of non-moving figures

The COVID-19 tracker is regularly updated by the health agency to give the public a glimpse of the country’s COVID situation amid the ongoing global outbreak of the virus.

It includes figures on the total number of cases, those actively infected, the number of new cases, recoveries and deaths.

The tracker also includes an epidemiological graph to visualize how the viral disease progresses, as well as figures on cities, provinces, and regions with the most number of cases, including new ones.

It additionally shows the data about the COVID-19 testing and the weekly positivity rate — or the percentage of people who tested positive among those who were tested overall.

READ: Concerns as DOH revises quarantine for vaxxed, stops daily bulletins

A physician previously said that if the health agency was “serious” about ending the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, it should “continue to inform the public of the burden of disease.”